Washington GOP Chairman Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, has some concerns about the incoming governor.
Last month, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, sailed to victory in the gubernatorial race. The state’s Republican Party announced the launch of the “Project to Resist Tyranny in Washington” shortly after.
The project’s aim? To block the state’s elected officials from treading on constitutional rights.
The way Walsh sees it, Ferguson has displayed a disregard for Washingtonians’ personal liberties during his time as the state’s top lawyer.
“The common denominator has been when the collectivist interests of big government conflict with individual liberties and constitutional rights, the governor-elect has shown that he sides with big government and not individual liberty,” Walsh said.
Ferguson did not respond to requests for comment.
The governor-elect is similarly readying his administration for a potential fight — this one with the feds.
Ferguson unveiled a transition team subcommittee aimed at protecting the state from possible harms inflicted by Project 2025, the sweeping federal policy agenda for the new Republican president. President-elect Donald Trump has distanced himself from that blueprint. However, at least 140 members from his first administration have ties to it.
As the state’s attorney general, Ferguson sued the Trump administration nearly 100 times. One such lawsuit was over the so-called Muslim travel ban, which the Democrat had decried as unconstitutional.
Now the state’s GOP says it’s prepared to challenge future unconstitutional actions taken by Ferguson.
Public safety
Walsh laid out what he thinks the Ferguson administration might mean for the state, including in terms of police. He said the Democratic AG has “shown a proclivity to defend criminals’ rights more than victims’ rights, and certainly more than law enforcement officers’ rights.”
The chairman pointed out that Ferguson has tried to prosecute police. In 2021, the AG’s office charged three Tacoma officers involved in the death of Manuel Ellis in police custody.
Looking ahead, state Republicans are worried about what Ferguson’s gubernatorial tenure could mean for gun ownership.
Walsh said when it comes to the right to keep and bear arms, the state’s constitution is “clearer and stronger” than its federal counterpart.
“Mr. Ferguson’s track record of disregarding that for some fashionable left-wing notion of public safety has been a great failure on his part,” he said.
Ferguson’s November win was celebrated by the gun-safety group Moms Demand Action. The organization highlighted his role in banning the manufacture and sale of “assault weapons” in Washington.
At the same time, Walsh said, crime rates have increased throughout the state. It’s a point that the Washington State House Republicans have hammered on, too.
The House Republicans’ website notes that between 2020 and 2022, the state’s violent-crime rate has risen while the national rate declined. Washington in 2023 also saw the second-highest property-crime rate of any state in the U.S., behind New Mexico.
No surprise that Walsh disagrees with Ferguson’s stance on firearms: “At what point do we say, ‘Look, we’ve given you leeway here. We’ve put up with these constitutionally dubious proposals because they were supposed to make our streets safer, and our streets are not safer. So, enough’?”
Of note: The Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan policy institute, posits that people are less safe in places with looser gun regulations.
Gun deaths in states with the weakest firearm laws jumped 46% from 2012 to 2020, according to CAP. Contrast that with a 7% spike in states with the most stringent gun legislation.
Defend rights in court
The press release announcing the Project to Resist Tyranny referenced possible litigation strategies. No specifics were outlined.
The state’s Republican Party hasn’t been shy when it comes to the courts over the past year or two, Walsh said. He hopes that the WA GOP never has to sue the Ferguson administration but he isn’t holding his breath.
“We will defend people’s civil liberties and constitutional rights in court when necessary,” he said. “We will also want to coordinate with policymakers at the federal level to make sure that Washingtonians’ rights are protected against the overzealous actions of bad public policy at the state level.”
WAGOP’s press release about the Project to Resist Tyranny also mentions “The Communist Manifesto.” Asked why, Walsh replied: “Because it’s appropriate.”
“I mean, a disregard for individual civil liberties and a focus on collectivist notions of the greater good have been used to harm people and deny their human rights since Karl Marx was first writing his manifesto,” he continued.
Asked whether he was calling Ferguson a Communist outright or just drawing parallels. The latter, Walsh replied.
