Evening Edition: State Senator Balances Needs Of A Rural District
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Friday, June 27th, 2025. I'm Tonya J. Powers. In a country with deep political divisions, how does a lawmaker build a coalition of supporters that include both Democrats and Republicans? One state senator is doing it, and he tells us how. We're politically challenged in our...

or ideology, but I would say that I'm sitting here as proof that if you're reasonable and you can listen to people's true concerns, they will support you. This is the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition. ♪

Is the idea of bridging political divides a quaint notion that's now in America's rearview mirror? Not for one lawmaker. He's a Navy veteran, business owner, and a Republican who was elected to represent a traditionally liberal area of his state. So I represent the 35th District in Washington State, which is a rural area. It's west of Olympia, which is the capital. So close proximity to the capital. We're very close to the metro areas, but

But again, it's a very rural district, 160,000 people is each legislative district in Washington State. - Drew McEwen is a Washington State Senator and recently introduced us to the people he represents. - Huge agricultural industry, maybe a little bit different than what most people envision in agriculture. We have a lot of timber, a lot of shellfish. Those are huge industries in my district. We are the largest exporter west of the Mississippi to Asia when it comes to the shellfish industry. - Wow. - Huge timber production.

And a lot of people that work both for state government or they work for the federal government via the Navy shipyard in Bremerton. And then just a lot of what I would call your typical hardworking blue-collar families throughout the district, many of them generational. The Navy brought me out there in the early 90s, so I'm not a native from there, but

Roughly 50% of my district has some connection to the military and was brought there via the military. We also have close proximity to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, which is Army and Air Force. So there is a lot of military presence throughout there.

It's also a tourist district. We have some of the most beautiful, pristine areas between the Olympic Mountains and the Hood Canal and the Puget Sound. So beautiful, beautiful area. Okay. Well, you're like a tourist ad. I want to go now. This sounds amazing. So tell me a little bit more about the agriculture part of this. I know you kind of hit the high spots with the timber and the shellfish and stuff.

What do your constituents say, like, as far as what they need, what their concerns are? Yeah, I think, you know, at the end of the day, and I think this is true for most people, but I certainly hear it from my constituents all the time, and that is at the end of the day, they want to be able to provide for their family with a good job or own their own business. Their kids get a good education, and when they call 911, those folks show up.

We live in close proximity to a metro area, but yet are very far removed. And there's that struggle in that, especially in Washington state, where the majority Democrat Party controls the legislature and the governor's mansion.

And it often feels like their voices are not heard. And that policy gets pushed down on them without thought of how that's going to impact other parts. What works in downtown Seattle does not work in Mason County, Washington. And that's a struggle that a lot of them find resentment in. It used to, you know, you go back and look at the voting system.

They historically voted Democrat for a long, long time. When I was elected in 2012, I became the first Republican to hold my seat since 1932. And that was largely due, there was a shift. I think people realized that the party had left them, the Democrat party had left them and did not represent their values anymore. And again, it goes back to that economic freedom, which I think all of us seek, regardless of where one lives. And that I just want to provide for my family and not have these massive dictates put down on me. I want my kids to have a good education without

you know, a lot of the extra things we see today, education policy wise. And those, those ring real vital to, to folks. And you look what's happened, especially in the timber industry where these were strong, strong family jobs and it got decimated, the spotted owl issue. And now there's this notion. And I've had this from, from some of my opponents through the years that somehow the timber industry is evil. No, it's not. They, if you want to really talk about protecting the environment,

these timber companies are some of the best ones at it through decadal harvest where you're cutting down a section and you're replanting and you get more carbon sequestration out of that than you do if you just let them stay and not harvest. And that's a critical part and again we see the migration patterns that are happening and people come into the district with a different notion of what that timber industry should be or is and it's just a lack of understanding of how that works and

Anybody that's in agriculture knows that there's a harmony that exists between the harvester and whether it's a crop or it's an animal. And they have a vested interest in that long-term viability. And some of the policies we see at the state and federal level have really, really hampered the timber industry. And subsequently, we've lost a lot of mills.

and a lot of good paying jobs. So when you are, as you mentioned, you are, you're a Republican in a majority Democratic body, so to speak, there in Washington state. What is it like for you to go and say, listen, these are, this is what's important.

to the people that elected me. These are the concerns that my constituents have. How do you do that and still work with other people across the aisle? Is there a lot of that or is it like Congress that we see where people are like, yeah, we're not talking to you. Is there any kind of back and forth? There is. I would definitely say it's more cordial, but I put a big asterisk on that. It's more cordial than what you see at the federal level, but then they become tone deaf.

They'll listen, but they won't take it in. That's how it feels. And if we go back to 2016 in the Washington state legislature, the Democrats held a one seat majority in the house or two seats and the Senate, the Republicans had a majority coalition. They actually had two Democrats, a caucus with the Republicans. And when, when the government was divided like that,

You saw some of the best legislation happen. And we had a Democrat governor, a very liberal Democrat governor at the time. But some of the best things happened, freezing college tuition, lowering taxes, driving down fees, and having a budget that didn't rely on gimmicks. Those were important things. And then what happened, there was a special election that the Senate was lost. And

we subsequently through the various, uh, through the next few cycles lost a number of seats. And so right now the Democrats hold a super majority in both chambers. We have a, we have two special elections in the Senate this year. I'm the deputy leader for the Washington state Senate Republicans. And so I'm leading those campaigns and I'm hopeful we're, we can win those two. And, uh,

get back to, because I think there are a lot of people that are in the legislature that have been elected in the last five, six years that never experienced that closely divided government. And they have no concept of what it's like to truly work across the aisle. And that is frustrating. They think that if you just listen to what somebody has to say, that that's enough. And it's not. Time and again, we offer amendments on various legislation. Law enforcement's a classic example where, hey, we have examples of why this isn't going to work.

And they'll say, well, we appreciate it, but we're not going to do that. And then two years later, they'll amend their own legislation, finding out, no, this didn't work. And that is a frustration that's there. So, yes, while they will physically listen to you, they don't internalize it and act on it. And that's a frustration. We've been speaking with Washington State Senator Drew McEwen. More after this. I know you mentioned earlier,

about the large military presence that you have in your district. Tell me a little bit more about that. How many people are we talking about here? So we have the only dry dock that can service an aircraft carrier on the West Coast. We have a large submarine base. That's what brought me there. I was in the submarine service, the Trident Ohio-class submarines.

And in addition to the aircraft carriers, support ships and everything. At the shipyard itself, there's about 12,000 to 14,000 civilian workers. It's a significant base. We're actually going to have another aircraft carrier be re-home ported to Bremerton. That's going to bring in an influx.

So it's huge. It is the largest base on the West Coast and is a strategic key part of it. And we've got a lot of challenges with it in terms of where geographically we're challenged with how we can expand. So housing is an issue outside of the policy issues that have added to the housing dilemma. But we're geographically constrained. But yet it's a key port.

and well protected because of the Puget Sound. So we're not exposed directly to the ocean. And there's some key advantages to that. We also have the Naval Air Station at Whidbey Island, which is in the northern part of the Puget Sound. It's not part of my district, but that's where all the air wings are. So we're right there for projecting peace on the seas. I live in Manhattan. We are geographically challenged as well.

only so much room. It sounds beautiful. It is. I keep getting this like picture in my head. You keep talking about the mountains. You've got the water. What is the thing that you love most about the literal geography and where you live? What's the thing that you're like, oh man, I just, I got to go see this or this makes me feel better to visit this place. Yeah.

Well, I'm a Navy guy, so I love being on the water. And it was, uh, this was maybe 10, 15 years ago. And it was the 4th of July. And my wife and I were on our boat on the hood canal, which is not a canal. It's a Fajord. Um, and it just, it was misnamed, um, way back in the day on a chart and it, the name stuck. So it's, it's called the, it's called the hood canal, even though it's really a Fajord, but, uh,

And I just remember we're floating there on the water enjoying the 4th of July. And my wife said it best that where else in the world can you be in relatively warm water? I mean, it's still kind of cool, but have snow-capped mountains. And that's so true. The beauty of that is incredible. And there aren't a lot of places like that in the world where you can literally be in the water and be staring at snow-capped mountains at the same time. That clicking sound you hear is everybody looking it up on the Internet to see how quick they can get there, where the nearest airport is.

You mentioned that you got to that area in the 90s. Did you ever think about leaving? Yeah, yeah. I did only from the standpoint of family. I grew up in the Midwest. I'm a Wisconsin guy. And so they always have that tug, right? But no, like a lot of military veterans, though, I stayed and made it home. And both of my sons were born at the Bremerton Naval Hospital in Wisconsin.

Again, I will never forget. Shout out to Danelle, who is over here with us, by the way. She's supportive from the corner in here. We're happy to have her in here with you. Yeah. But it is one of the most majestic places I really do feel. And hopefully we can make it politically more majestic. I know that Seattle is hosting World Cup games next year. Are you guys excited? Do you have soccer fans in your district? Are you excited? Are you a soccer fan? There are.

I'm not so much. I'm a hockey guy and football, but I can appreciate the soccer phenomenon. No, it's going to be great for the area. I hope Seattle behaves itself. They have a tendency not to.

They're going to dress everybody in flannel and give them an umbrella. But we have a very large, especially in my district, we do have a large demographic that has immigrated from Central America. And that brings the culture of that with it. So there is a huge soccer presence within my district, but certainly in the Seattle area. I mean, Seattle is an immigration hub for a number of cultures. And I think it's going to be fantastic. And I think we'll have some of the premier games there.

I don't understand how that all gets set, who gets to go where. The World Cup is actually going to have some remote sites to do events. Some of that will be in my district in Kitsap County, which is to the north of where I am, but it's part of my district. And I really think it's going to have a tremendous impact and hopefully we can do a good job and showcase our area to the world. I've got to ask you about the billboard. There was a billboard. Tell me about the billboard because everybody keeps saying, oh yeah, that's where

the billboard is. And I'm like, what are you talking about? Yeah, so on Interstate 5, and this is probably 20 or 30 miles south of Olympia, a farmer has this billboard and he's had a number of sayings and they're all right-leaning, you know, but in their satire oftentimes, you know, and illustrating things. And that's been there as long as from the time I first came out, I remember seeing that

And unfortunately, from my point of view, he just sold, as I understand, he sold the property to the Chehalis tribe. And so those billboards are going to come down. But yes, those were very popular. It had on the side of it, it's a big Uncle Sam and his hands out reaching Point Net, the words that would be written on there. And yeah, every couple of weeks they change the sayings on there. And again, it always was some satire to illustrate the hypocrisy of what goes on in the world and

especially in the nation. Y'all have to Google the billboard. I'm telling you, you got to look the story up. It is. I love that. We've gotten to talk to you today. What else? What is the number one thing you want people to know about your area and, and the people who live in your district? We've all got more in common than we have different. Tell me about what you wish everybody knew about your area. I think again, it's, um,

It is some of the hardest working people I've ever known. And they truly value their family, their friendships, their business. And it's what you might see oftentimes on the news with Washington State or Seattle specifically. That's one part of the state. The rest of the state is not so much like that. We're politically challenged in our...

or ideology, but I would say that I'm sitting here as proof that if you're reasonable and you can listen to people's true concerns, they will support you and they will elect a Republican. At the end of the day, I'd say come and visit Washington State and see some of the beauty of it and get to know the people.

Again, at the end of the day, it always comes down to those folks. The beauty is one thing, and that's God's hand on it. And you get to see a picture that he painted that's quite perfect.

And they can stay with you and Danelle, right? It's when they come see you, you got room in the basement? Okay, all right. Okay, America, y'all heard the invitation. I really appreciate y'all coming in today and you giving me some time to talk to you and hear about your state. Likewise, I appreciate having the opportunity to do so. Thank you. This is fantastic. Washington State Senator Drew McEwen, thank you for joining the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition. Thank you very much.

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