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OCEAN SHORES, WA The Roanoke Conference, an annual assembly of conservative minds in the state, opened on Friday with a call to order by KIRO Newsradio commentator John Curley, who cracked jokes targeting the state’s Democratic majority.
He had a lot of fodder.
Brian Heywood of Let’s Go Washington, which collected signatures for two initiatives before the state legislature this year, said the conservative movement is getting under the skin of the the political majority.
“I’ve noticed that the stories that are meaningful and that are beginning to break in the state, that are impacting the state, are stories from people on our side of the aisle, on the common sense side of the aisle,” said Heywood, referring to commentators such as Brandi Kruse, Jonathan Choe, John Curley, Ari Hoffman, Jason Rantz and Carleen Johnson.
“The stories that are meaningful, that are beginning to expose what’s going on in the state, they’re coming from those people, not from the Seattle Times.”
Let’s Go Washington’s initiatives include a ban on biological boys from competing against girls in school sports and restoring parental rights removed by HB 1296 last year.
Heywood lauded the financial impact of his initiatives.
“Someone called me and said, “Hey, I was in this phone call with the teachers union, and they were talking about how they were sort of hurting for money this year because they had spent so much money trying to defeat the initiatives.”
The audience responded with applause.
“That’s money they didn’t have to spend against our candidates. Now, we’re still getting our butts kicked, no doubt about it, but that’s money that they would have bankrolled and they would have used against us in a way.”
“I don’t like losing. I hate it, in fact, but I’m okay when they have to spend 10 to 1 to try to outgun us,” Heywood said to more applause.
Heywood said 50% of the signatures for his initiatives came from Democrats and Independents, calling on the largely conservative audience not to be afraid of tackling social issues.
“We’re the leading blue state in the entire nation, the first one to qualify protecting girls’ sports for a general election,” he said to more applause.
Heywood accused the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Washington Education Association (WEA) of beating up signature gatherers.
“We got 50 cases where they stole, they defaced, they hit, they assaulted. There was actually a hit and run,” he said.
He also said some legislators are trying to crush the initiative process by proposing bills to ban paid signature gatherers. Current state law allows payment to signature gatherers, but it is illegal to pay or accept money for a signature.
The state legislature is required by the state constitution to vote on an initiative brought by the people or put it on the ballot in a general election. If the legislature amends an initiative, both versions are sent to the people for a vote.
State Democratic leaders have threatened not to put the initiatives to a vote in the legislature.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear two cases this year challenging biological boys’ competitive participation in girls’ in sports.
