WSDCC – June 6, 2025

Posted on June 6, 2025

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

Happy Pride Month, Washington Democrats!

Working for Washington
Fresh off my trip to Arkansas for the Association of State Democratic Chairs, this week was focused on implementing our year-round organizing strategy. Washington Democrats are hiring a Year Round Organizing (YRO) Director and we are in the final stages of the interview process. I look forward to introducing you all to our new YRO Director as soon as they start. Supporters like you have been doing a tremendous job of funneling energy in our communities into action. The YRO Director will be responsible for ensuring we continue to grow those efforts in a sustainable way that will give us the strongest foothold possible to win elections up and down the ballot this year and every year!

On Monday, I was in Los Angeles to assist in launching the “Living Wage for All” campaign to increase the minimum wage. Washington state not only has the highest minimum wage of any state in the country, but Tukwila, WA, also has the highest minimum wage for any city in the country! Research shows that raising the minimum wage increases take-home pay for low-wage earners in Seattle, and our example is helping other cities and states make the case that helping the workers who need it most builds long-term success. It is also important that we build a party that centers working people and gets back to focusing on uplifting workers’ rights! You can watch my remarks with One Fair Wage here or by clicking the image above.

Last week, I was also honored to be appointed to the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee. I look forward to using this leadership position to drive important changes in our party’s infrastructure that will ensure transparency and accountability as we work to take back our country from the Republicans. It was also my pleasure to introduce Democratic Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to some great activists and thinkers in Washington state who are doing great things to support Democrats.

As we celebrate Pride this month, I am thankful to everyone who is standing up to support our LGBTQIA+ siblings, neighbors, and friends during these dangerous times. Washington Democrats look forward to seeing you at the Seattle Pride Parade. To get Pride Weekend started, we are hosting a Friday Sunset Fundraiser on June 27th. See below for more details or register here.

Democrats Fighting Back

After Trump administration axes $500 million from Washington dam project, Patty Murray says she won’t let it happen again,
The Spokesman-Review
Senator Murray is working to implement strict limits on how the Trump administration can interpret spending decisions. $500 million that had been allocated to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a fish passage project on the Green River near Tacoma was taken away and gifted to red states as political graft. Senator Murray’s office found that the Trump administration reallocated funding that had been roughly a 50-50 split between red and blue states into 33% for states with two Democratic Senators, 64% for states with two Republican Senators, and 4% for states with one senator from each party. Trump is playing political games with congressionally authorized funding to pay off his GOP friends. Thankfully, we have Senator Murray pushing to make those kinds of changes illegal.

Storybanking – Send Us Your Stories

Washington Democrats are proud to share a special Pride message from Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove, the first openly-gay statewide elected in Washington history! Click the image above or go here to watch.

Please send your stories about the impacts of Trump’s policies on your life and community. These stories put a human face on the policy implications of the lawless president and his enablers.

The best way to persuade people about the impacts of Trump’s corruption is to share real stories from real people in their communities. Please consider sharing your own story of the direct impacts of Trump 2.0 on your life, by sending an email to press@wa-democrats.org that includes your name, contact information, which Washington community you reside in, the story you would like to share, and permission to share your story with the public. 

Our Communications team will be in touch within a few business days after you have reached out to help collect your story. 

Call to Action

  • Rally, Protest, and Gather
    • TODAY – Rally for Veteran Resources – various times and locations. Join in demonstrations across Washington to support resources for our veterans. Find the one nearest you here.
    • Saturday, June 14 – NO KINGS Seattle Mass Protest from NOON-3PM. Location TBA. Sign up here.
    • Every Friday – Refuse Fascism Fridays in Everett at the Social Security Administration Office from 5PM-6:30PM. Sign up here.
    • Every Saturday  – Say It Saturday at B.A. Clark Park in Spokane. 3PM-5PM. Sign up here.
    • Every Monday – Mikey Mondays in Spokane outside the office of U.S. Representative Michael Baumgartner. Sign up here.
    • Every Tuesday – Tesla Tuesday in Liberty Lake from 4:30PM-5:30PM. Sign up here.
    • Every Wednesday – Musk or Us Protest in Redmond from 4PM-5PM. Sign up here.
  • Donate
    • If you would like to see less Washington D.C. and more Washington state in your community, please DONATE to The Real Washington Fund – our rapid response account to counter MAGA’s chaos with real organizing, real solutions, and real results. We can’t do the work of holding Republicans accountable without your support.

WA Dems 2025 Pride Celebration

Washington Democrats and Stonewall Democrats are co-hosting a 2025 Pride Celebration on our rooftop deck the Friday before Seattle Pride Weekend. Hear from members of the LGBTQIA+ caucus like Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen and Senators Claire Wilson and Marko Liias as well as Attorney General Nick Brown! More speakers will be announced in the coming weeks. We hope to see you there! RSVP Here.

Young Democrats of Washington Convention

Join Young Democrats from every corner of Washington as they come together on June 20-21 in Seattle for the Young Democrats of Washington Convention. The event is open to all Democrats 35 years and younger. If you can’t make it, but would still like to help, please consider sponsoring a young delegate’s tickets and travel.

Event Details:

Reception: Friday, June 20 at 6:00 PM
Location: Washington Athletic Club, 1325 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA

Convention: Saturday, June 21 – All Day
Location: Seattle Public Library – Central Branch
Workshops, speakers, community-building, and our statewide general session

Tickets are just $25 and available here: Click Here!

Republicans Behaving Badly

FEMA staff baffled after head said he was unaware of US hurricane season, sources say,
Reuters
Trump’s head of FEMA said he was unaware the United States has a hurricane season (which started this week!). Hurricanes kill dozens and cost hundreds of millions of dollars every year in our country and climate change has only supercharged the conditions that lead to hurricanes. Trump put David Richardson in charge of FEMA even though he has zero disaster response experience.

Dems call out WA congressman over stock trades. Did he profit off tariff fears?,
Tri-City Herald
Congressman Newhouse’s family sold stocks around Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements, raking in somewhere between $47,000 and $705,000 (we don’t know exactly how much because congressional reporting requirements have these vast ranges). We DO know his estimated net worth is between $13-18 million. Newhouse’s office claims these were routine trades made by a financial advisor, but still no word on when or even IF Rep. Newhouse will host a public town hall to answer for his votes that would strip Apple Health coverage from his constituents. His district, CD4, has the highest rates in the state of residents who rely on Apple Health and nutrition assistance. A whopping 70% of children under 18 receive Apple Health insurance coverage in CD4.

Trump science cuts may close WA LIGO observatory that confirmed theory of relativity,
Tri-City Herald
The Trump administration continues its war on science with plans to close the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory at Hanford, WA. In 2015, this facility helped confirm Einstein’s prediction of gravitational waves from outer space leading to a Nobel Prize in physics for three U.S. professors emeritus. The U.S. is the world leader in this research thanks to this facility. Closing it would be a dagger in the heart of research that expands our knowledge of the cosmos. 

Trump’s DOE cancels billions in funding for projects in red states,
NOTUS Longview, WA is among the list of communities losing funding awarded under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. These projects would have aided carbon capture, pollution reduction, chemical recycling, and research into making cement production less carbon intensive.

Democrats in the News

A first-year rep learns her Congressional role amid chaos of the Trump administration,
Kitsap Sun

Can this Washington member of Congress turn the Democratic Party around?,
High Country News

Frank Chopp, bulldog of WA politics, was ‘always moving the needle,’ 
The Seattle Times

Frank Chopp, a force that reshaped Washington’s political landscape, 
Washington State Standard

Martin’s leadership, Democrats build infrastructure in red states like Utah for the long-term,
DNC

What I’m Reading

Good Night, and Good Luck,
CNN, written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov
I had the privilege of seeing George Clooney’s Tony Award-nominated play Good Night, and Good Luck on Broadway. TOMORROW at 4PM, CNN will air the penultimate performance of this amazing play on cable and streaming, including all HBO Max subscription plans. There will be special coverage starting at 6:30PM. You can watch the broadcast without a cable login here: http://cnn.com/GoodNightGoodLuck

As Trump continues to undermine the free press in our country, I encourage everyone to tune in to this play that showcases journalist (and famous Washingtonian) Edward R. Murrow’s history-altering on-air showdown with Senator Joseph McCarthy. “As McCarthyism casts a shadow over America, Murrow and his news team choose to confront the growing paranoia and propaganda, even if it means turning the federal government and a worried nation against them.” Seems pretty timely to me. I hope you will join me and tune in!

Thanks for all you do,

Chair Shasti Conrad
Washington State Democratic Party

In 2024, Washington Democrats led the nation with sweeping electoral victories. Now, we’re fighting to elect a supermajority in Olympia, protect our swing seats in the House, and stand up to MAGA extremism across the country.

WA Dems empowers grassroots organizing and elects Democrats up and down the ballot. Your support fuels our fight to stop Trump and defend our democracy.

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We sincerely thank you for your help and support.

Washington State Democrats
PO Box 4027
Seattle, WA 98194
United States