State Rep. Jim Walsh has been re-elected chair of Washington’s Republican Party. He’s shown here speaking to reporters when he won his first term in August 2023. (Jerry Cornfield/Washington State Standard)
State lawmaker Jim Walsh, fresh off securing a second term as leader of Washington’s Republican Party, said Monday he is focused on strengthening the GOP’s campaign mechanics heading into the 2025 election season.
Walsh, who won reelection Saturday, said he wants the party to do a better job turning out Republican voters and ensuring their ballots are tallied. To that end, he’s hired a new political director to oversee get-out-the-vote and ballot-harvesting efforts statewide.
“We want to win. I think the state party is unified in running nuts-and-bolts, tactical campaigns that are successful,” Walsh said.
Democrats, meanwhile, have reelected Shasti Conrad as leader of their state party. With her at the helm, Democrats swept nine statewide executive posts, gained seats in the Legislature and defeated three conservative-backed ballot measures in 2024.
The state Democratic Party succeeded in part because it outraised its Republican counterpart and outperformed the GOP in the campaign ground game.
Matt Brown, chair of the Yakima County Republican Party, will be counted on to improve the GOP showing on the latter front.
Walsh cited Brown’s role in helping Republicans win control of the Yakima City Council, county-level offices and, in November, three seats in the 14th Legislative District.
In the 14th, the boundaries were redrawn in a manner that favored Democratic candidates in response to a redistricting lawsuit.
“All three were in a gerrymandered district where Democrats were spiking the football before the election,” Walsh said. Brown won in the region “by executing an aggressive and disciplined system of contacting voters and harvesting their ballots. Brown will execute that system all around Washington. And we will be better positioned to help candidates win races.”
This year will provide a strong test.
Eight Democratic state lawmakers appointed to their seats this session must stand for election this fall. Most are in safe Democratic districts.
The exception is a Senate seat in the 26th, which is viewed as a swing district. Sen. Deborah Krishnadasan, D-Gig Harbor, will be challenged to keep the seat and already has one high-profile opponent, Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Gig Harbor, has emerged. Walsh expects it to be a competitive election.
In the meantime, since becoming leader in August 2023, Walsh has dealt with division between the party — which is guided by precinct officers and base Republican voters who are more MAGA-aligned — and the leadership of the Republican caucuses in the Legislature which are viewed as more moderate and establishment oriented.
In last year’s primary, some caucus-backed candidates faced conservative foes who received support from the state Republican Party. In one prominent instance, then Rep. Greg Cheney, had the endorsement of the Senate Republican leaders but lost in the primary to Republican Brad Benton who went on to lose to Sen. Adrian Cortes, D-Battle Ground.
Walsh said those divisions are dissipating, noting the importance of Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, and House Republican Caucus chair Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, attending this past weekend’s party meeting.
The fact they were there “set the right tone for the next two years,” Walsh said. “The so-called division kind of melted away.”
In the meantime Conrad, unanimously re-elected to a two-year term on Jan. 26, hoped the party’s success in Washington state could help get her elected to a leadership post on the Democratic National Committee. But on Saturday she lost her bid for a vice chair position.
Conrad led the King County Democrats for four years before being elected chair of the state Democratic Party in 2023. According to her political biography, she is the first South Asian woman to lead a state party in the nation.
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