Washington State GOP Endorses Bird For Governor

A MAGA Convention

The Washington State GOP held their convention over the weekend in Spokane. As expected, they endorsed Misipati Semi Bird for governor with 72% of the roughly 1,800 delegates backing him over former Congressman and King County (Seattle) Sheriff Dave Reichert.

Bird was greeted by rapturous cheers, firing up the crowd with an exuberant speech exhorting them to carry him to the governor’s office in November. He pledged, if elected, to call for a “third-party audit” of state government programs, to end the sanctuary policies begun by the current governor to protect illegal aliens from deportation & prosecution for their crimes, and to fully support police who have been demoralized under the leadership of the retiring three-term Democrat governor, Jay Inslee.

M. Semi Bird, who is currently studying for his Ph.D, is an internationally renowned public speaker & subject matter expert in organizational & professional development. Prior to entering private business and academia, Bird was in military service for 23 years. As an Army Special Forces “Green Beret,” Bird received two of our nation’s highest awards for heroism on the battlefield: the Bronze Star for Valor, and the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat. Bird is also a former Richland School Board member* in central Washington.

Bird will compete with Reichert and two Democrat candidates in the August 6th primary, which will winnow the race to two finalists, regardless of party, for the November general election.

BIRD’S PRIORITIES

CREATING ECONOMIC VALUE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL

As Washington families struggle to make ends meet in a failing economy wrought with unprecedented inflation and high costs of goods, our current State leadership continues to spend excessively and tax Washingtonians unfairly.  We will;

• Provide tax relief to Washingtonians.

• Initiate budget accountability protocols to reduce spending.

• Restructure our welfare infrastructure from a hand-out to a hand-up system.

• Incentivize small business development for ALL.

• Create opportunity zones in under-represented communities.

ENSURING QUALITY IN EDUCATION

When parents and guardians register their children for school, they do not sign away their rights as the primary stakeholders in the upbringing of their children.
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We must acknowledge the empirical fact that parental involvement in a child’s education facilitates better attendance, behavior, grades, social skills, and better adaptation to school.

• I will continue to support the initiative measure 2081 establishing the Parents Bill of Rights, which adds to RCW 28A.605

• Parents/guardians will have full access to ALL student records (medical, psychological, counselor, academic).

• Parents/guardians will have full access to ALL curriculum and supplementary materials used in their child’s classroom.

• Parents/guardians must be notified prior to any medical or psychological services offered to their child or children.

The primary function of the Washington State public education system must be the pursuit of academic excellence in preparing students for their future - not the social/political objectives of special interest groups.

FACILITATING FOOD AND ENERGY SECURITY

Washingtonians must have access to reliable and sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food, and similarly, require equal access to reliable and sustainable energy sources. We will;

• Partner with Washington State farmers and ranchers to identify and mitigate regulatory barriers which may compromise generations of commitment to feeding our state and the world at large.

• Prioritize the water and land rights of farmers and ranchers, while facilitating ecological stewardship of our environment.

• Lawfully prevent foreign acquisitions of Washington State lands.

• Utilize clean nuclear energy technology to maximize energy independence.

• Establish a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Energy to maximize local energy resources, such as hydroelectricity. 

RESTORING THE RULE OF LAW & SAFE COMMUNITIES

As lawlessness overtakes our rural and urban communities, state leaders continue to undermine our law enforcement professionals with reckless policies. We will;Enhance community policing to establish trust and collaboration as a holistic approach to neighborhood public safety.

• Fully fund state police and increase the number of law enforcement officers with competitive salaries and hiring bonuses.

• Work with local, state, and federal authorities to prevent the deadly threat of drugs such as fentanyl, from reaching our rural and urban streets.

• Hold County Prosecutors accountable for enforcing the rule of law and, partner with Sheriffs and other local law enforcement leaders to reauthorize law enforcement across the state.

• We will tackle mental health and addiction; the root cause homelessness, by focusing our efforts on compassionate, comprehensive treatment programs and infrastructure.

• Enhance community policing to establish trust and collaboration as a holistic approach to neighborhood public safety.

A CONVENTION OF MAGA AMERICANS

The Washington GOP, like the national Republican Party, is indisputably the party of Trump. That was on full display in Spokane, where the 2024 GOP State convention was filled with Trump hats, Trump shirts, life-size Trump cutout figures, Trump flags and a parade of pro-Trump delegates and candidates. This was a Trump show. It was also a Bird show.

Republican delegates displayed a grudge against former Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler^ over her asinine 2021 vote to impeach Trump after he left office. She never explained why she joined the Democrats in this unconstitutional and absurd process. When Herrera Beutler, now a candidate for Commissioner of Public Lands, spoke to the convention on Friday, she was greeted with boos and dozens of delegates who stood & turned their backs to her. On Saturday, the convention endorsed Sue Kuehl Pederson, a retired scientist, over Herrera Beutler, giving Pederson 86% of the vote.

Dozens of people gave brief speeches seeking to win election as delegates to the Republican National Convention scheduled for July in Milwaukee, where Trump will be formally nominated for president. The prospective delegates touted their endorsements on a Trump-backed slate. Several said they’d been supporters from the time Trump announced his candidacy in 2015.

“When Donald J. Trump came down that golden escalator, I knew that God’s hand was with him. I knew it. I knew God chose him for such a time as this,” said Georgene Faries, a delegate from Snohomish County (north of Seattle).

FAKE MEDIA DID NOT DISAPPOINT

State GOP Chair Jim Walsh,** who is one of two state representatives for District 19, this writer’s district, opened the day with pushback against the dishonest media’s description of the previous day as chaotic. “Let’s help our friends in the media understand that this is not chaos. This is not chaotic. This is a live and real political convention,” he said. That is, it was not choreographed in advance as so many partisan events are.

Mathew Patrick Thomas, the chair of the King County Republicans, said the “us against them” conflict between newer GOP activists and the more establishment wing that was on display is nothing new and is happening across the country. He said he hopes the various GOP factions will unite ahead of November for races up and down the ballot. “This is another party family get-together, and it’s contentious, but the party will have that conversation. I guess we’ll have to see what happens after the primary,” he said.

*A man of principles, Bird stood up to the tyrannical governor, Jay Inslee, who violated state statutes, the state constitution and the US Constitution when he mandated mask wearing. As Richland School District board member, Bird and two other board members voted in 2021 to make the wearing of masks optional despite a state mandate calling for indoor masking. The three faced recalls in 2023 and were removed from the school board. Bird issued a statement before the vote count calling their actions “a defiant dedication to address the pressing issues impacting the youth in their district.”

“Liberal policies in our schools continue to prove disastrous for student mental health and overall academic competency,” he said. “If I am to be recalled for my decision to stand for parents’ rights and the health and wellbeing of our children, I will wear it like a badge of honor.”

^Jaime Herrera Beutler represented Washington’s Third Congressional District, this writer’s district, for over a decade when she narrowly lost the primary in 2022.

**This writer will be emceeing a Legislators’ Town Hall on May 3rd, inviting Washington’s District 19 citizens to ask questions of those who represent them in Olympia, the state capitol. Rep. Jim Walsh and Senator Jeff Wilson will field questions about the 2024 legislative session.