La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

Growing up as an Ike-Republican gives me a unique vantage point. Republicans used to support family values, the environment, the Constitution and the rule of our laws. The U.S. president used to be a leader, not a liar.

Longtime Senator Slade Gorton, a Washington Republican, passed away recently. This marks the end of moderate Republicans in Washington State – a party Gorton would no longer recognize as the Republican Party, now under the domination of Donald Trump.

This year, shortly before his death, Gorton threw his support behind Raul Garcia, a Yakima doctor who shared Gorton’s moderate approach, in the race for Washington’s governor. Garcia lost the primary to Loren Culp, a failed small town police chief who made a name for himself by not enforcing a state initiative approved by voters. This initiative put new restrictions on the sale of semi-automatic firearms and was approved by “the people.”

We are a nation that has survived because of the belief in the rule of law across our nation. Culp and the Party of Trump undermine all of us and our democracy when their personal opinions take the place of the laws of the land.

I share the conclusion of many political analysts that no GOP candidates on the ballot come close to replacing Gorton on the statewide stage – as Washington’s Republicans drift far to the right and to the Party of Trump.

As a former Republican, I urge all Republicans, especially those in the 10th district, not to vote for any GOP candidates this year, as their national platform supports loyalty to Trump not to our nation.

How can you trust candidates whose party has used a pandemic for political purposes and allowed 200,000 American to die – twice the number who died in Vietnam? How can you trust a party that does not support the environment and clean water and air in a state that has the majestic diversity of landscapes, climates and habitats that surround and support us in Washington? How can you trust a party that wages war against women’s rights and solves the national immigration problem by separating children from their families?

None of this sounds like the values from the rural Republican household that I grew up in. Washington’s Republican Party has killed moderation, collaboration, conversation and compromise.

The Party of Trump has taken over Washington’s Republican party. Republicans and former Republicans have an epic responsibility to say NO to partisan voting habits and help return us to one nation, UNdivided and dedicated to life, liberty and justice for all of us.

Attwood co-owns Cook on Clay Ceramic Cookware on Whidbey Island and has a long history as a non-profit administrator, educator, environmentalist, farmer trainer and volunteers with a variety of organizations, including the Sound Defense Alliance.