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Washington Republican chair Caleb Heimlich stepping down

By Jim Brunner, The Seattle Times
Published: June 5, 2023, 5:55pm

SEATTLE — Washington State Republican Party Chairman Caleb Heimlich announced Monday he’s stepping down after more than five years in the position, leaving the party looking for new leadership as it heads into the 2024 election.

“After 12 and a half years working at the Washington State Republican Party, it is time for a change,” Heimlich wrote in a message to state GOP officials obtained by The Seattle Times. “It has been a tremendous honor to serve as the chairman of this great organization for 5 1/2 years, but for the sake of my family it is time to pass the torch to someone new.”

Heimlich, 37, said he has accepted a job with “a national grassroots organization that will provide a better quality of life for my family,” citing the commute between his Pierce County home and the state party headquarters in Bellevue.

His resignation is effective Aug. 12, when the WA GOP’s state committee will meet in Olympia to elect a new chair.

Heimlich was elected party chair in January 2018, succeeding Susan Hutchison, a former TV news journalist.

He is the longest serving chair of the state party since Jennifer Dunn in the 1980s, according to a party news release. Prior to taking the top position, Heimlich had worked for the state party since 2011 as political director and the executive director.

Heimlich was reelected unopposed in 2019, and was reelected by wide margins in 2021 and 2023.

Heimlich leaves as the state Republican Party struggles to climb out of an electoral ravine, with the era of Donald Trump dominance hurting the GOP’s prospects in Washington.

Republicans don’t occupy any statewide elected offices, and the party lost a congressional seat and seats in the Legislature in last year’s midterm elections. The party’s U.S. Senate candidate, Tiffany Smiley, spent $20 million in a challenge to Sen. Patty Murray, but lost by nearly 15 percentage points.

The party’s prospects for 2024 look daunting, as Republicans grapple with a losing streak of more than four decades in gubernatorial races and have yet to field a notable challenger to U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, who is seeking a fifth term. The GOP is also in the minority in both the state House and Senate.

Heimlich, in a news release, said despite his departure as party chairman, “I assure you, I will never stop working to make our state a better place.”

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