Tub Hansen, the Maverick Conservative Democrat

After a long delay, I'm back to exploring Washington State Party History. Due to the ongoing concerns I've been fielding from potential Democratic Party candidates mostly of the moderate variety, I am featuring in this post the "Maverick" moderate, and self described "Conservative Democrat"  Tub Hansen of Moses Lake.

Tub Hansen served nearly 20 years in the legislature in Washington State,  He began his legislative career in the house in 1972 representing the 13th Legislative District.  He was re-elected in 1974 and 1976 and was known for his staunch defense of Agriculture and "plain talking."  He carried that reputation with him to the State Senate where he served for nearly 14 more years. 

When interviewed by the Daily Record on November 9, 1972, over lunch in Ellensburg the day he came to pick up his plywood election signs, he said,  "I've always been a Democrat . . .[But, I] may be something of a Maverick."  And, "I'm going over there (Olympia) as a Democrat, but I'm a clear thinking man, I'm not a liberal Democrat, I'm conservative. Maybe two-thirds of the Republicans are more liberal than I am . . . And I'm not a pawn to anyone." 

Last fall, when I asked members at a Kittitas County Democrats general business meeting to talk to me if they had known Tub Hansen, Alice Yee buttonholed me after the meeting.  She had worked on several of Tub's campaigns and explained that while he was a Democrat, his unique ability to keep a foot in both parties was the reason that Central Washington kept returning him to the legislature. But perhaps more importantly, it was his staunch defense of farming and agribusiness that was key to his staying power in the heavily agricultural district he served as Representative and later State Senator.

Tub came by his cowboy reputation honestly, being born into a ranching family near Neppel, Washington, now Moses Lake.  At 26, he ran off to Wallace, Idaho with his 16 year old girlfriend, Wanda, and got married much to the dismay of both families.  Tub and Wanda lived in a very rusticly remodeled chicken coop lean to behind Tub's parents house before purchasing an old school house in Mae, Washington which had to be moved.  The old school house almost made it a mile or two down the road towards Moses Lake when it couldn't be moved between power poles.  Nonplussed, Tub had the house set off the roadway right there and it became Tub and Wanda's family home until 1971 when he became a legislator.

Tub and Wanda were very much a partnership when Tub served in the legislature and both were passionate about seeing that needs of the people back home were met.  When Tub died in 1991, Booth Gardener appointed Wanda to serve out the remaining year of his term.  Wanda died in 2009 and has been widely recognized for the work she did officially in taking up the remainder of Tub's term, but also for all the unofficial work she rendered as a highly active and visible legislative spouse.