The Lewis County Republican Party on Saturday, April 12, hosted its annual Lincoln Day Dinner fundraiser and auction at The Loft in downtown Chehalis.
The event, which opened its doors at 5 p.m., featured keynote speaker state Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, who is also the chair of the Washington state GOP, preceded by shorter presentations from Lewis County Republican Party Chair Mitch Townsend and Lewis County Commissioner Scott Brummer.
The theme of the night was the state of the union, with speakers presenting on the Lewis County Republican Party, Lewis County government and state government.
Alive 85 radio personality and Elvis impersonator Steve Unger emceed the event, which also featured live music by Chris Guenther.
Before the speakers took the stage, the event began with a prayer from Frank Corbin, the pledge of allegiance led by Ron Averill and the national anthem performed by Dawn Miles.
Local elected officials such as Washington state Senate Minority Leader Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, and Lewis County Commissioner Lindsey Pollock also attended the event, among many other local Republicans.
Townsend was the first to speak and presented current priorities for the Lewis County Republican Party focused on four main points: modernization, accountability, transparency and leadership development.
As part of his goal to develop leaders, Townsend suggested the party invest in young leaders and support fledgling politicians in local races. In the same breath, he emphasized the importance of upcoming local elections for city councils and school boards, urging attendees to get involved.
“Our kids are our future. We need to get involved in their education,” said Townsend, who also serves on the Mossyrock School Board. “In order to perfect that and to counteract the teachers union we need good conservatives on the school boards. That means you folks.”
Brummer, filling in for fellow Lewis County Commissioner Sean Swope, took the stage next presenting on the current state of the county. He focused on the county’s commitment to conservative values and the recent budget season, which posed serious financial challenges for the county. Among those challenges, Brummer listed stagnant tax revenues and the financial burden of state mandates.
The county faced a projected budget shortfall of roughly $5 million when planning for the 2025 budget at the end of last year. In order to balance the budget, the local government cut staffing and took a significant property tax revenue increase for the first time in recent years.
“We have made tough decisions. We have (cut) our staff. Some services are not there to be provided, but we have done that so that we are not taking more than is what’s absolutely necessary out of your pocket,” Brummer said.
During the event's keynote speech, Walsh took the stage to talk about the 2025 Washington legislative session, likening state Republicans in the Legislature to a hockey team playing defense while outnumbered.
“It’s a battle, and we measure most of our successes in defensive terms,” Walsh said. “It’s the bad tax we knocked down. It's the bad anti-parent bill we knocked down. It's the bad school break that we knocked down.”
He first presented concerns with the integrity of Washington state elections and parental rights, which has been a hot topic during this year's legislative session after a voter initiative, I-2081, deemed the “Parents Bill of Rights,” was passed into law last year. At the same time, Walsh praised a recent executive order from President Donald Trump that would require documented proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, in order to register to vote.
“I believe that when we implement this executive order out of D.C., we will solve the biggest single part of our election troubles here,” Walsh said. “Our long term goal is to get back to in-person, same-day voting.”
That executive order was signed by Trump in late March and faced immediate legal challenges. The Washington Attorney General’s Office recently filed a lawsuit in tandem with the state of Oregon challenging the executive order as unconstitutional, claiming that it violates the rights of states to set their own rules on how to conduct elections.
Walsh also took the chance to critique Washington Democrats for a bill making its way through the Legislature that would make changes to the Parents Bill of Rights. Democrats have pitched Senate Bill 5181 as a cleanup bill that will make tweaks to the recent vote initiative in order to put it in line with state and federal law, but state Republicans have firmly opposed it. The bill passed the state Senate along party lines in February.
In his closing remarks, Walsh echoed a message from Townsend earlier in the night urging locals to get involved in local government and emphasizing the importance of running for local school board seats.
“This year, it’s a lot of city council races, it's a lot of mayor races, and Mitch said it, a lot of school board races,” Walsh said. “Please know this, getting good people elected to school boards is the most important thing you can do right now.”
Learn more about the Lewis County Republican Party at https://www.lcrpwa.org/.
