A high-stakes weekend for the GOP

Plus we take stock of the lawmakers' stock-buying choices

Editor’s Note: This version corrects two errors. Semi Bird was formerly on the Richland School Board, not the city council, and Jamie Herrera Beutler voted to impeach Donald Trump, not endorse him. 🤦🏼‍♂️

Washington State Republican Party delegates are in Spokane this weekend for the first pre-primary convention, an event that features not only big implications for this year’s elections but for the party’s near-term future. 

The marquee fight is between the two candidates for governor, former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert and Semi Bird, the ousted Richland School Board member running in the far-right lane. The fact that Bird, who’s toting enough baggage for a round-the-world cruise, came into the convention as something of an early favorite to get the GOP endorsement speaks volumes about the state of the party. We broke down some of the implications of that contest last week. 

Here’s why you should care about this: If you’re the sort of principled conservative who would see a Bird win at the top of the ticket as a locomotive careening off the tracks, then you should be concerned about the rest of the train. Many of the convention delegates are hard-right zealots loyal to former President Donald Trump, and they might do some interesting things. If you’re a Democrat looking for the weakest GOP slate possible, you might be busting out the popcorn and the schadenfreude. Three races to watch: 

Shutterstock comes through with a fired-up GOP elephant.