Slade Gorton, patrician GOP senator from Washington, dies at 92

Slade Gorton who served as a U.S. Senator from Washington state from 1981 to 1987, and again from 1989 to 2001, has died on Aug.19 in Seattle. He was 92. He had a 40-year career representing Washington state as a centrist Republican. He served in the state legislature, as the state attorney general and a three-term U.S. senator.

Mr. Gorton was born in Chicago, Ill to the New England family that started the well-known frozen fish company. He served in the Army near the end of World War II and later the Air Force after college. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 1950 and received a law degree from Columbia University in 1953

He moved to Seattle in 1956 where he entered into Republican politics. Two years later, he was elected to the state legislature, where he served for 10 years. He later served three terms as state attorney general. Gorton was known for his aggressive consumer-protection battles as attorney general and for going to federal court to end SeaWorld’s capture of orcas in Puget Sound. In the 1970s, he was among the first Republican officeholders to call on President Richard M. Nixon to resign for his role in the Watergate scandal.

After leaving the U.S. Senate, he served on the 9/11 Commission and on the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, as well as numerous civic boards and campaigns.

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), who overlapped with Mr. Gorton in the Senate, said they didn’t always agree, but still worked together to strengthen clean-up efforts at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state, toughen pipeline safety standards and expand health care for children.

“Throughout his career in both Washingtons, Slade defied convenient labels and stood on principle–we need more leaders in our country like Slade,” said Murray.

Mr. Gorton was instrumental in Seattle having a professional baseball team, suing Major League Baseball in the 1970s to force it to bring a team to the city. In 1991 he arranged a deal to have Nintendo’s owner and local investors buy the Mariners to keep the team in Seattle.

His wife of 55 years, the former Sally Clark, died in 2013. Survivors include three children and several grandchildren.