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the street and enacting a “three strikes, you’re out” law Gorton had cham-
pioned. Gorton hosted a crime summit of his own and lobbied Attorney
General Janet Reno to focus more resources on criminal aliens and drug
trafficking, which was epidemic in the Yakima Valley, a narcotics conduit
for the entire Northwest. Gorton angered gun owners by backing the
Brady Bill, which requires licensed dealers to institute a law-enforcement
background check before selling a firearm. He opposed the final version
of the crime bill, however, because it banned assault weapons. The left
hooted, saying duplicity was Gorton’s middle name.^3
Gorton criticized Clinton for not being tougher on China over human-
rights violations but still supported most-favored nation trading status for
the world’s most populous country. “Trade is too important to be tied to
anything but trade,” Gorton said, explaining his 180 from the position
he’d staked out earlier in his Senate career. “I support the president when
he is right, as he was on NAFTA, and I oppose him when he is wrong, as
he was on government-run health care.”^4
Bphey t sRing of 1994, King County Councilman Ron Sims and former
TV anchorman Mike James were leading a parade of a half-dozen Demo-
crats jockeying for endorsements and money in the race to take on Gor-
ton. The son of a Baptist minister, Sims came of age at the height of the
civil rights movement. He was student body president at Central Wash-
ington State College his senior year, then became an investigator with the
attorney general’s Consumer Protection Division during Gorton’s tenure.
Sims spent four years as an assistant to George Fleming, the state’s first
black state senator. A linebacker-size man given to hugging friend and
foe alike, Sims was a lay minister who worked with street kids and cham-
pioned affordable housing. At 46, he was 20 years younger than Gorton,
whom he accused of practicing the politics of polarization, pitting white
fishermen against Indians, loggers against city-dwellers. “Time to say
goodbye to Slade!” Sims said, commanding the podium like a pulpit.^5
James seconded the motion. Handsome and urbane, with a dashing
mustache, he had teamed with Lori Matsukawa and Jean Enersen for
years to make KING-5 the top newscast west of the Cascades. James said
the “divisive politics of Slade Gorton” had propelled him into his first bid
for public office.^6
J. Vander Stoep, a hard-charger in the McGavick mold, stepped down as
chief of staff to manage the campaign. Gorton’s bid for a third term had a
foundation of exceptional constituent relations, a statewide grass-roots or-
ganization and a war chest already at $3 million and growing daily toward