the coALition 51
mendous problems. We need to use the best brains we have in a biparti-
san effort to represent the people.”
“Would Day give the Republicans committee chairmanships?” Adele
asked, notepad in hand.
“Absolutely!” said Big Daddy.^2
the48 Rpu e BLicAn MeMBeRs of the House, including Mary Ellen Mc-
Caffree, a freshman from Seattle, took their seats in a caucus room at the
Legislative Building at 10 a.m. on Jan. 14. McCaffree was nervous. After
two eventful terms as president of the Seattle League of Women Voters,
she shouldn’t have been. Realizing her knowledge of redistricting would
prove invaluable, Evans, Gorton and Pritchard recruited her to run for the
Legislature. The Democrats had wooed her as well.^3
Evans locked the door, related the events of the night before and said
the Cooper Point coup was a go. But it had to unfold just so. Jaws dropped
when Evans announced that the speaker was going to be Day. Gorton,
Pritchard and Eldridge, the caucus chairman, nodded reassuringly. Some
saw it as a pact with the devil but Evans said, “What the hell do we have
to lose?” If they pulled it off they could drive the agenda, oversee redis-
tricting and gain momentum for an outright majority. If they failed,
they’d still have their 48 votes and the promise of support on key legisla-
tion from the dissident Democrats. They were ideological soul mates on
issues that resonated with the Republican agenda: modernizing the com-
mittee structure and finding more money for schools without resorting
to new taxes, not to mention private power.
“This is pretty heady wine,” said Damon Canfield, the assistant floor
leader.^4 The Yakima Valley farmer was a man of few words so when he
said something people listened. Still, “we had a lot of people who were
very, very concerned,” Copeland recalled. Some members of the old guard
were in a state of shock. They were saying, “Oh my, we would have to be
responsible; we would be in the majority. Can we depend upon the mem-
bers of a coalition?”^5 Leadership patiently fielded every question, then
asked for a show of hands. The usually mild-mannered Dwight Hawley,
who had represented King County since 1950, was the only one “who just
couldn’t stomach the thought” of voting for Day.^6
In another corner of the Capitol, traffic was heavy in and out of
O’Brien’s office all morning, with Day and Perry conspicuous by their
absence. At 11:15, one of the speaker’s aides strolled smiling out to the
floor and told the scribes, “It’s in the bag for O’Brien.”
The Republicans broke huddle at 11:55. Evans emphasized once more