Sue Lani Madsen: When one party rules, we all suffer

Single-party rule of the executive and legislative branches provides little incentive for the kind of meaningful disagreement, discussion and compromise necessary to sustainably govern a nation or a state.

County commissioners fill both legislative and executive functions, which is why a recent opinion column in these pages giddily celebrated the possibility of greater diversity on the expanded Spokane County Board of Commissioners. That may or may not play out on Tuesday, depending on the voters. Local elections often hinge on issues outside the partisan tribalism of the state and federal levels.

But we’ve watched the dysfunctional dynamic of one-party rule fully exposed over 975 days in Washington. Gov. Jay Inslee using his emergency powers shut out the people’s elected representatives from both parties well past the initial emergency phase of pandemic response. More than two years of acrimonious top-down governing has left the grassroots feeling trampled.

Will the legislators gathering in January fix this or leave Washington vulnerable to future autocrats? A fix is not likely as long as Democrats retain control of both House and Senate and Inslee retains control of the Democrats. The Legislature has for most of the past 20 years operated as a “single-party star chamber, distinguished by debate-free unanimous votes,” to borrow a phrase recently directed at the Spokane County commissioners. Correction will require voters changing the balance of power by flipping a few more blue seats into the red column in the House, Senate or both in Olympia.

Occasionally, Washington has benefited from the robust negotiations required by split government, most recently when a parliamentary style Majority Coalition Caucus operated in the state Senate from 2013 to 2017. In addition to welcoming a more diverse selection of voices to the debate, extremes on both sides had less control of the agenda.

Former state legislator and Democrat Joe King of Vancouver is now a Spokane resident. He served as speaker of the House in the Washington Legislature from 1987 to 1993. At that time, the Senate majority leader was Republican Jeannette Hayner of Walla Walla. King recalled lunching regularly with Hayner to discuss issues coming before the two bodies. “She was right of center and I was left of center, but we were both focused on finding what worked,” King said.

Those kinds of collaborative conversations don’t happen when one party controls the narrative. The two political tribes have become reflexively dismissive of any proposal coming from the other side. When you have all the votes in your own party that you need, there’s no reason to develop persuasive arguments or listen to other points of view. We see the effects of one-party control play out in both Olympia and Boise, albeit under different banners.

American voters seem to instinctively know this is a problem at the federal level, regularly alternating control of the White House and Congress between parties. It’s a way to shake up ossified leadership entrenched in partisan positions and get them talking again. New presidents usually have a majority in at least one chamber of Congress when they are first elected, but midterm elections are where the voters show their independence.

And now we’re facing an election where single-party rule at the federal level is on the ballot. Voters have better choices in the U.S. Senate race in Washington than we’ve had in years. On the one side, seniority and partisan leadership in current U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, who has been in federal office for five terms. It’s hard to run a campaign on fixing everything that’s broken in Washington, D.C., when you’ve been there long enough to have been part of the breaking. Instead, Murray’s campaign has focused on the issue of abortion, an issue that isn’t in question in Washington, the state.

On the other side, there’s candidate Tiffany Smiley. A former triage nurse, she started down the political path as an activist who had to work with both sides of the aisle to accomplish change at the federal level. Triage training is all about developing a mindset to focus in emergencies, balancing immediate needs with resources available for the best long-term outcome for the greatest number. It requires constant monitoring of conditions, triaging again as necessary. It’s great training for government, where matching resources and demands are a constant struggle.

When Murray ran for an open U.S. Senate seat 30 years ago, her opponent was experienced five-term congressman Rod Chandler and she called herself “just a mom in tennis shoes.” As voters look at the results of two years of single-party control at the federal level, the midterm winds are supporting Republicans. Building off her professional and activist experience, Smiley has a simple message to deliver. “There’s a new mom in town,” Smiley said on her bus tour of all 39 Washington counties, referring to Murray’s campaign slogan from 1992.

We’re definitely past time to change shoes.

Contact Sue Lani Madsen at rulingpen@gmail.com.