66 sLAde goRton: A hALf centuRy in poLitics
Schaefer kept regrouping, unaware that the Republicans had drawn up a
secret play. Gorton discovered there was no specified time for the inaugu-
ration of a governor. “Wednesday” was all the statute said. Evans phoned
home to Seattle and told his wife, Nancy, to get a babysitter.
It was 10 p.m. Tuesday, January 12, 1965. Gorton, McCaffree and Mc-
Curdy knew Greive was running out of time. House Democrats caucused,
only to emerge downcast 40 minutes later, still at least two votes short.
They repaired to their chamber, bitching among themselves. The Repub-
licans resisted the temptation to cheer this dispirited parade. Schaefer
looked exhausted. Copeland took him aside. There’s no way you’re going
to pass a redistricting bill tonight, the minority leader said. Then he
dropped the bomb: There was no tomorrow either. If need be, Supreme
Court Justice Richard Ott, Bible in hand, and the governor-elect would
enter the North Gallery just before midnight for the swearing in of Daniel
Jackson Evans as Washington’s 16th governor.
“You’re not kidding, are you?” Schaefer blanched.
“I’m absolutely dead serious,” said Copeland.
“How would it be if we adjourned right now?” Schaefer suggested.
“You’ve got a deal.”^3
It was the end of the beginning.
theMe nXt oRning, Gorton was up early, drafting a paragraph on redis-
tricting for Dan’s inaugural address. “I now urge the Legislature to pass
promptly a legislative redistricting bill which will obey the mandates of
the state and federal constitutions, provide equitable representation for all
areas of the state and ensure that the party which wins a majority of the
votes will win a majority of the seats in the Legislature,” the new governor
told a joint session of the Legislature.
Crunching numbers dur-
ing the 1960s redistrict-
ing battles. Mary Ellen
McCaffree is second from
left; Don Moos seventh
from left. Howard Mc-
Curdy, who did much
of the heavy lifting for
the Republicans, is stand-
ing next to Gorton. Bob
Miller/Washington State
Legislature