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Category: Governor’s Office

After 45 years in public life, Sam Reed bids farewell

After 45 years in public life, Sam Reed bids farewell

(Photo courtesy of  Legislative Support Services Photography) Secretary of State Sam Reed bade a fond farewell to the people of Washington Tuesday after 45 years in public life, including 35 years as a state and county elected official. Addressing a joint session of the Legislature, Reed brought along a special reminder of his family’s long connection to Washington politics and government — his grandfather Sam Sumner’s battered leather briefcase.  Exactly 100 years earlier, Sumner, a state GOP chairman and longtime…

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WA lawmakers & new gov gird for grueling session

WA lawmakers & new gov gird for grueling session

Washington lawmakers and incoming Gov. Jay Inslee are arriving in Olympia for a grueling budget-year legislative session that begins at high noon on Monday. The 63rd Legislature and the newly elected governor face a big budget shortfall — perhaps $2 billion, counting pay raises, rising cost of services for a growing and graying population and a state Supreme Court order to invest more in the state’s public schools.  Democrat Inslee and a number of legislators say they will try to…

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Gregoire unveils $34b budget & tax plan

Gregoire unveils $34b budget & tax plan

Gov. Chris Gregoire, in one of her last major acts as governor, has unveiled a $34 billion, two-year budget for state government, along with a tax package devoted largely to upgrading the K-12 budget. The Democratic governor, leaving office in January after serving eight years, laid out spending priorities for every sector of state government, including schools and colleges, parks, social and health services, prisons, the courts and Legislature, Puget Sound cleanup, and the departments of government.  She also released…

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WA Electoral College: All 12 votes for Obama

WA Electoral College: All 12 votes for Obama

Reflecting the winner-take-all nature of the Electoral College system, Washington’s electors on Monday awarded all 12 of the state’s electoral votes to the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The event, convened by Secretary of State Sam Reed and Gov. Chris Gregoire, went off the clockwork.  The carefully scripted, time-honored process was much like the one taking place in all state capitals. As flags outside the Capitol stood at half-staff, electors gathered in the State Reception Room and…

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Guv’s 1912 Thanksgiving proclamation

Guv’s 1912 Thanksgiving proclamation

Thanksgiving proclamations have been a common practice for governors and presidents, all the way back to President Washington in 1789.  And so 100 years ago,  Washington Gov. Marion E. Hay issued a proclamation on Nov. 18, 1912, just before that year’s Turkey Day. The proclamation is found in the State Archives, which is part of the Office of Secretary of State. Part of Hay’s proclamation read: “And I urge that the people of this state on that day put aside…

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October Archives treasure #1: Gov. Evans’ Rainier climb

October Archives treasure #1: Gov. Evans’ Rainier climb

(Photos courtesy of Washington State Archives) Dan Evans is a double-rarity in Evergreen State politics. He’s one of only two Washington governors to serve three terms (the other, Seattle Republican Arthur Langlie, occupied the Governor’s Office in 1941-45 and 1949-57). Evans also is one of only two people who was both Washington Governor and a U.S. Senator from our state (Mon Wallgren, an Everett Democrat, was the other, having served in the U.S. Senate from 1940 until 1945, when he…

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WA voters can get quick election results on iPhone and Android

WA voters can get quick election results on iPhone and Android

Want to check out election results on the go? This year you will be able to view them wherever you are with our office’s free Elections Results apps for iPhone and Android phones.  These apps provide current vote totals for state, federal, legislative, and judicial offices, giving users a convenient way to stay up to date on their favorite races. County elections departments begin tabulating ballots that have been received and processed shortly after close at 8 p.m. and within minutes you…

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Archives treasure #3: Olympics-related photos

Archives treasure #3: Olympics-related photos

(Photos courtesy of Washington State Archives.) In case you haven’t seen the ads and TV promos, the world’s biggest sports event is coming soon. People throughout the world are getting excited about the 2012 Summer Olympics starting in London in only two weeks. London might be thousands of miles from our state, but our State Archives has a small collection of  photos related to the Olympics that will remind us that Washington has been touched (literally) by the Olympic flame….

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1st District voters will fill Inslee vacancy

1st District voters will fill Inslee vacancy

Voters in Washington’s 1st Congressional District will choose a successor to Jay Inslee for the final weeks of his two-year term. Gov. Chris Gregoire, with the support of Secretary of State Sam Reed, announced Monday that she is calling a special election to coincide with the regularly scheduled Aug. 7 Top 2 Primary and the Nov. 6 General Election. Democrat Inslee, a 15-year veteran of Congress, resigned effective March 20 to devote full time to his bid for governor. The…

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`Statewides’ gather for Gregoire’s State of the State

`Statewides’ gather for Gregoire’s State of the State

It’s a rare occasion when most, if not all, of Washington’s statewide elected officials are in the same room. The Governor’s State of the State speech Tuesday morning offered such an opportunity. Moments before they entered the House Chambers to attend Governor Gregoire’s annual address to the Legislature, all of the “Statewides” except the guv and Lt. Gov. Owen (who was presiding over the joint legislative session) gathered in the State Reception Room for a photo. From left to right:…

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