Anti-tax crusader Tim Eyman has announced his run for Washington State governor. (Screen snip, YouTube, KREM)
Veteran anti-tax crusader Tim Eyman, whose Initiative 976 to limit car license tabs to $30 won overwhelming support in all but a handful of Evergreen State counties, has announced he will run for governor in Washington state, according to the Seattle P-I.com.
He joins a field already boasting one state senator, a small town police chief who gained national prominence for declaring he would not enforce a gun control initiative passed by voters last year, a former mayor and a program manager. Eyman’s entry into the race could make for a lively 2020 gubernatorial campaign, as he is reviled by the liberal establishment.
That much was made clear in a Seattle Times opinion piece by liberal cartoonist David Horsey, who wrote, “In a party now dominated by President Donald Trump fans who don’t mind backing a con man if he speaks their language, Eyman may well be an instant front-runner… So, if you are a Democrat, just imagine waking up the morning after Election Day in 2020 and realizing that, not only has Trump been reelected, but Tim Eyman is your new governor. I believe that’s what is called a nightmare scenario.”
Eyman has statewide name familiarity, which could give him an instant advantage over State Sen. Phil Fortunato, Republic Police Chief Loren Culp, former Bothell Mayor Joshua Freed and program manager Anton Sakharov.
Culp, however, may have more momentum than pundits might give him credit for, having essentially ignited the opposition to the extremism of gun control Initiative 1639. That’s the measure that critics say stripped Second Amendment rights from young adults by prohibiting them from purchasing any semiautomatic rifle until they reach age 21. It also creates a registry of so-called “semiautomatic assault rifles,” mandates proof of training, invented a new crime of “community endangerment,” added a 10-day waiting period on the purchase of a semi-auto rifle, and provided a legal definition of a rifle that Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich says does not really exist, the so-called “semiautomatic assault rifle.”
I-1639 is being challenged in federal district court by the Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association. There is also a grassroots campaign to repeal I-1639 via an initiative to the legislature, I-1094, which is currently gathering signatures.
Fortunato is no mystery wallflower, either. The maverick King County Republican kicked off his campaign in Seattle by addressing homelessness and the opioid crisis, taxes and sanctuary policies.
But Eyman comes into the race as a genuine hero to taxpayers from Newport to Neah Bay. He’s championed tax-cutting initiatives for more than two decades, and he is currently entangled in a legal battle with the state, while Seattle and King County have sued to derail implementation of the tax-cutting measure.
He dubbed anti-gun Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee, who abandoned his go-nowhere presidential campaign to try for a third term, as the “Seattle governor.”
Whomever gets the Republican nomination will be up against an onslaught of negativity from the establishment press, Seattle and I-5 corridor liberals who, it has been suggested, would vote for serial killer Ted Bundy if he had a “D” next to his name.
