Character assassination ‘tool of choice’ for party elite, says GOP gubernatorial candidate
A new website funded by conservatives in Washington state takes a variety of jabs at GOP gubernatorial hopeful Semi Bird.
The website, Bird-docs.com, went live last week, and lays out Bird’s past transgressions including a 2018 judgment against his construction company for deficiencies and defects that remained unpaid until November 2023, a year after Bird announced his run for governor.
The website also highlights liens totaling nearly $30,000 for child support in arrears that were paid six years after the first lien was filed. Mcclatchy verified the records through a request in February.
In February, the Tricity Herald first reported that Bird was once arrested for felony gun theft after misplacing his law enforcement issued revolver. Bird, who lives in Richland, told the Herald the incident was a “misunderstanding.”
He’s also been publicly criticized about his 1984 court martial for striking a sergeant and his illegal vote on COVID masking that got him recalled in 2023 from the Richland School Board before he’d finished his first elected term.
Bird told Mcclatchy in an April 3 email he finds it disappointing that “character assassination has become the tool of choice for the Republican Party establishment elite” during a time when the state is struggling with issues like “homelessness, lawlessness, a failing education system, and over taxation without proper representation.”
“Unfortunately, this is not a surprise to me,” Bird added.
He pointed out an open letter signed in January by Restore Washington cofounder Mike Mckee in which Mckee encouraged Bird to drop out of the gubernatorial race and instead run for Lieutenant Governor.
“Your reputation would remain intact, and this would also be evidence that you are a team player for the Republicans,” the letter read.
Bird pointed to a passage in the letter where Mckee told him, “The financial resources required to mount a respectable race will be in the millions, and it is becoming clear that the large money donors have picked a different candidate to support this year.”
Bird has so far raised just over $420,000 in his campaign, according to the Public Disclosure Commission, while his GOP opponent Dave Reichert of Auburn has raked in over $2 million.
“Like so many others, I have made mistakes in my distant past and have learned from them,” Bird said in his email to Mcclatchy. “I was born without civil rights, yet I have achieved the American dream. Why? Because this is the nation where anyone who is willing to work hard and persevere, can achieve what they believe.”
In a livestream event Thursday Bird also pushed back on the attacks.
The website was paid for by the Concerned Taxpayer Accountability Center. Steve Gordon, executive director for the organization, told Mcclatchy in a phone call Monday that the website was a way to collect all of the information floating around that spoke to Semi’s background.
“It seemed like a good opportunity to inform folks especially with the upcoming convention,” Gordon said.
The 2024 Washington State Republican Party Convention will take place April 18-20 in Spokane. Delegates will decide who they will endorse for the statewide campaign at the event.
Shauna Sowersby: @Shauna_sowersby