Ex-Dem Governor Rips Washington State Leaders Over Out-of-Control Economic Policies
A former Democratic Washington state governor said Democrats steering the state are spending too much.
Christine Gregoire, the state’s governor from 2005 to 2013 and now the CEO of Challenge Seattle, a coalition of business leaders, said what legislators are doing is harming the state, according to KXLY-TV.
The state’s spending has more than doubled in the 13 years since she’s left office, Gregoire said.
“I left office with a budget of $33 billion, and the budget today is $80 billion. I think that’s a little bit too much of a growth,” she said at the Association of Washington Business 2026 Summit.
“And yet how we find ourselves at the end of every legislative session now is in the hole and projected to be in the hole,” Gregoire said.
The former governor said spending does not produce outcomes that state residents can see.
“All too often, what we’re finding is, we’re paying the tax and things are getting worse. So how do we answer to that?” she said, according to KXLY.
Wow, listen to former Democrat Gov. Christine Gregoire calling out our absurdly high taxes.
“I left office with a budget of 33 billion. And the budget today is 80 billion…I would suggest to you we don’t really have an income problem, we have a spending problem.”
EXACTLY!! 👏🏼 https://t.co/crWrr9ER1a
— Kristen Mag (@kristenmag) May 14, 2026
“Do you think our legislature understands the impact of the policy environment as it relates to the economy?” the summit’s moderator asked, according to KIRO-FM.
“No,” Gregoire replied.
“I really don’t, as evidenced by your mentioning of the estate tax. I argued with some folks about the estate tax. We were the highest in the country, tied with Hawaii at 20 percent. We went to 35 percent. We’re not just the highest. We’re beyond the highest,” she said.
As noted by Seattle Red, Gregoire warned that higher taxes are pushing people out of the state.
“When they leave, they stop paying cap gains. When they leave, they stop giving significantly to philanthropy, which would otherwise be necessary by government. So do you understand? Do you see the consequences of what you’re doing?” Gregoire said.
“I would suggest to you we don’t really have an income problem. We have a spending problem, and we’re answering it by stacking one more tax, one more rule, one more regulation,” she said.
“And the one thing that the business community doesn’t need is that lack of predictability,” she said.
Gregoire said legislators do not understand how business works.
Both the House and the Senate are controlled by the Democratic Party — as is the governor’s office.
“How many people in either of the Democratic caucuses have come from a business past?” Gregoire asked. “OK, so if you haven’t come from it, you don’t know it, you don’t understand it.
“And therefore, to me, we all, collectively… have to educate from the outside in,” she said.
“We have to explain things like sales tax on services you thought was a nice attack on big business. And here are the small businesses that have been tremendously adversely impacted, as well as the customers.”
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