Biggest factor in McKenna’s defeat was McKenna

Several factors contributed to Republican Rob McKenna’s defeat in a race he figured he could win.

For example, his national party’s tarnished name brand likely lost him votes. His opposition to abortion certainly cost him with women voters. And the lack of a competitive race in this state for president may have depressed turnout in prime GOP enclaves.

Ultimately, the reason Rob McKenna is not going to be the next governor is Rob McKenna.

The course he set out on when he launched his campaign last year left him lacking what he most needed at the finish to beat Jay Inslee, arguably one of the Democratic Party’s weaker candidates for governor in awhile.

With victory in grasp, McKenna required an army of volunteers working endless hours contacting potential voters. Though he and the state Republican Party had such troops deployed around the state, they did not number anywhere near what Inslee and the Democratic Party assembled.

The results are humbling. Those toiling in the state GOP Victory Offices made 1.5 million phone calls and knocked on 150,000 doors, each time urging support for McKenna, said party Chairman Kirby Wilbur. By comparison, the Democratic Party’s coordinated get-out-the-vote effort made 4 million calls and knocked on 2 million doors to plug Inslee, spokesman Benton Strong said.

Why such a discrepancy?

McKenna decided early on he wanted to keep his campaign a safe distance from the national Republican Party, and, it seemed, other Republican candidates. He seemed confident and content to go it alone.

He never embraced his party’s presidential ticket in the way Inslee did his. Not surprisingly, those associated with the Republican National Committee and Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign got the impression McKenna didn’t want their help even indirectly. In the end, the RNC wired $60,000 to the state party Nov. 6, Election Day, to help get out the vote. That’s too little, way too late to make a difference.

In contrast, the Democratic undertaking had funds coming in from all corners of the party. They shared data and worked across lines of the various campaigns. They had cohesion in their ranks unlike the GOP.

McKenna also paid a price for running as a different kind of Republican, one whom moderate Democrats and independents could support. He downplayed his opposition to abortion and gay marriage, insisting he wouldn’t try to change any laws on the books. He said he was ready to move forward with a federal health care law he labored hard to derail.

This won him support of newspaper editorial boards but cost him among those in the base of the Republican Party where one can find the greatest number of volunteers.

These folks will invest their most valuable resource — time — in candidates whose ideas they agree with or whose values they believe in. The more inspired, the deeper the commitment, the greater the investment.

McKenna never clicked with them. They voted for him but didn’t appreciate his pragmatism. They didn’t expend the energy they did in Republican Dino Rossi’s two bids for governor.

Without impassioned volunteers and a united Republican front, here’s what the campaigns looked like in the final week:

McKenna traveled around the state in a recreational vehicle, holding gatherings with crowds ranging from a dozen to a 100 people. Rossi, on the letterhead of the state Republican Party, appealed for money from Washington donors to help Romney win in battleground states. And U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the GOP’s rising congressional star, plotted her ascension into a House Republican leadership post, which she secured Wednesday.

Inslee, meanwhile, traveled around Western Washington in a bus, with U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, members of Congress and legislative candidates. They found themselves speaking to impassioned crowds routinely numbering in the hundreds, many of whom went back to contacting voters after an hour of cheering candidates.

Washington will get a Republican governor again one day. It could possibly be McKenna in 2016.

Though he’s the reason he lost this year, he can be the reason he wins the next time.

Political reporter Jerry Cornfield’s blog, The Petri Dish, is at www.heraldnet.com. Contact him at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.