He may be the best elected official you’ve never heard of. Well, almost never. Other than one or two brief, not-so-pleasant excursions into the limelight, Sam Reed is so low-key that you have to wonder how he managed to handily win a third term as Washington’s secretary of state, that despite being a rare animal these days in Washington state politics: a Republican.
Given, his office isn’t one that exudes political glamour or, for the most part, draws much partisan political heat. It has never been a springboard to higher office—say, a seat in Congress, or even lieutenant governorship.
But look again. Reed, still boyish-looking at 68, is almost self-effacing, if that is possible in the me-first world of politics. He has quietly stretched that Clark Kent role in this obscure office to the limits of its constitutional mandate; critics would suggest beyond those limits.
If not for Reed, the protracted 2004 gubernatorial race—the closest in U.S. history—might have been dragged out even further. And who knows? It might even have had a different ending. And without Reed, it’s possible that Washington voters might still be required to declare a political party in the primaries.
One of the state’s few remaining “Dan Evans Republicans”—the last one who worked for the moderate Republican governor and still holds public office—Reed went to Olympia in 1967 as an executive director to the state Urban Affairs Council under Evans, who was dubbed a “Republican liberal” by political writers.
Though the state GOP has shifted sharply to the right in recent decades, it had a historically progressive tradition, churning out pro-business but environmentally conscious candidates such as Evans and Reed, former Lieutenant Gov. Joel Pritchard, former Gov. John Spellman and former U.S. Rep. John Miller.
“We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Dan Evans—the party of pragmatism and reform—problem-solvers … We must work to provide jobs, environmental protection and social justice,” says Reed, a history buff who lives in Olympia and relaxes by playing tennis and bridge and jogging. He and his wife, Margie, have a grown son and daughter and two grandsons.
“Sam is an outstanding public servant,” says the 84-year-old Evans, who was a three-term governor. “He is a defender of the Republican Party, an innovator who reaches out beyond partisan considerations.”
Reed is optimistic about his party’s future in Washington state, and foresees a centrist revival among Republicans. But he acknowledges the party has a problem: “I don’t think we’ve been inclusive enough in terms of reaching out. I don’t think it’s a case of rejecting people, but [of] reaching out to ethnic minorities and to people whose political opinions are more centrist or moderate, particularly in the urban areas and suburban areas.”
Some of Reed’s actions have antagonized the party’s right wing. The secretary of state has a constitutional duty to run state elections, register corporations and maintain the state archives. And before Reed, that’s about the sum of what they did. Sans fanfare, he added to this control of the state library. When former Democratic Gov. Gary Locke proposed budget cuts that might have closed the library doors, Reed dug in his heels, calling it the “backbone for all the libraries in the state.” The Legislature then turned the library over to the secretary of state.
Reed also fills in for the governor to welcome visiting delegations, participates in trade missions to sell Washington apples and Boeing airplanes, and likes to tell high school students how their government works. Meanwhile, he serves on the board of the state television network TVW and is a trustee of the state historical society—a good fit for a son of Washington Territory pioneers who grew up in Wenatchee and Spokane.
He is also the prime mover behind a state Heritage Center, a $141 million project combining the state library with a state museum, a project on hold pending improvement in the state economy.
A graduate of Washington State University, Reed cut his political teeth as an assistant secretary of state and a five-term Thurston County (Olympia) auditor before becoming secretary of state in 2000.
Beloved? Not so quickly.
It took a recount to settle on a winner of the 2004 race for governor. When it was finished, Democrat Christine Gregoire had 129 more votes than Republican Dino Rossi, and Reed declared her the winner. The GOP hardcore were furious, regarding Reed’s certification of Gregoire as disloyal. John Giese, a GOP consultant and Reed’s friend for 30 years, announced, “I am one of those who has no intention of supporting you in the future.”
A bitter judgment coming from an old friend, but with more to come.
Reed also championed the fight for preserving a partisan-free primary. When Washington’s old blanket-primary system—which let voters cross party lines—was replaced with a “pick-your-party” system, Reed advocated for the top-two system, in which voters’ first and second primary choices advance to the November general elections, regardless of party.
This system was very popular with those who vote for the candidate and never mind the party label. But it didn’t sit well with hardcore partisans on either side of the fence, including Democratic state chairman Dwight Pelz.
“Political parties play a critical role in democracy,” says Pelz. “But Reed vilifies parties for his political gain. He is a politician masquerading as a civic do-gooder.”
Pelz teamed up with the Republican state party to kill—at least temporarily—the top-two primary and retain the caucus system. The bitter fight carried through to the state Supreme Court, where the top-two was upheld. As in the gubernatorial recount, which he describes as a traumatic experience, he did what he thought was right.
“Republican opposition upset me,” he says. “But my role as secretary of state was to be above it, to keep my finger off the political scale and let the courts decide.”
And then, retreat from the limelight.
As for the inevitable question of whether he’ll run for a fourth term? Short answer: “Undecided.” Stay tuned. L&P
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