Why Washington State Missed The Trump Tidal Wave

I have written previously that the current Democratic Party has gone radically secular. It’s now the anti-God extremist party. Current Dem priorities are at war with our 250-year Judeo-Christian culture through abortion on demand, open borders, gender confusion, denial of free speech, socialist economics, and refusing to prosecute crime.

In 2024, the (Trump) GOP emerged as the pro-faith (and by extension) common sense party. The R’s believe that abortion should be “safe and rare,” want clear borders/legal immigration, take boys out of girls’ sports, support free speech, promote economic freedom, and be just on crime. 

Americans turned to the GOP and its moral sanity in the Trump landslide. 

Only one state–Washington–became worse (a deeper blue) in 2024. 

Here’s why we missed the Trump tidal wave.

Why Washington Missed The Trump Tidal Wave

First, a little background. 

I was born and raised here though we left for 14 years and returned in 1988. Western Washington is a gorgeous place that reminds many of Scandinavia with its rugged coastline, evergreen forests, and snow-capped mountains. Many nature-lovers enjoy the beauty and temperate climate. Washington wasn’t established by people of faith like much of the U.S., but pioneers like Protestant missionaries Marcus & Narcissa Whitman remain prominent in our history.

Some of the nation’s great businesses were born in WA including Boeing, Microsoft, and Amazon–and non-profit Goodwill. When I was growing up, we voted for both Democrat and Republican governors and national leaders. 

In 1990, Bremerton, WA was voted the “best place to live” in the U.S. (ten minutes from our home). We enjoyed Jesus marches in the streets, torch runs for world evangelism, spiritual leaders came together statewide to pray, and streams of revival flowed through many churches. 

Washington was never the “Bible Belt,” but the people of faith (though smaller in percentage) remained active and vital.

One generation later, Washington State is now the 10th most blue state in terms of voting Democrat (anti-God). We’ve thrown away our common sense and gone woke, radical, extreme, and snooty about it.

The twelve most atheistic/secular states who vote Democratic are listed below (I will include the District of Columbia): The numbers represent what percentage voted more for Dems in 2020: 

• District of Columbia (86.8), Vermont (35.4), Massachusetts (33.5) Massachusetts, Maryland (33.2), Hawaii (29.5) California (29.2), New York (23.1), Rhode Island (20.8), Connecticut (20.1), Washington (19.2), and Delaware (19.0).

All of these states (but one) moved away from the Democratic Party in the 2024 elections. A tsunami of urgency and common sense enveloped the nation as people feared growing inflation, the invasion of illegals, and the general breakdown of society due eroding moral/biblical foundations.

Washington was the only blue state to move further left ( .3). 

Here is the data. The first chart shows the “Red Shift” from 2020 to 2024. Note Washington at the bottom being the sole negative score (regressive). All the others were “progressive” in turning back to our godly roots.

The second chart differs slightly from the first. It graphs the shift of all but two states toward the Republicans. Utah also voted slightly to the left in 2024, but it began strongly in the pro-faith (Republican) column. Only Washington started out blue and became bluer. Notice the remarkable red wave (red arrows pointing right).

The 2024 elections saw a national tsunami for cultural and political change. Nation-wide, the people got it. 

But anti-Trump voters in Washington State went against the former president labeling him “Orange Man Bad.” (We also have a grammar problem). But the rest of the nation shouted that 20% inflation. shrinking wages, open borders, transgender confusion, killing babies, growing tyranny, stifling free speech, and creeping socialism were the real bad from which we needed deliverance.

One of the best perspectives of the Trump victory was written by Josh Hammer.

Ben Shapiro summed it up this way:

It turns out the American dream is still alive in the hearts of Americans. We want our share of that dream. Even more, we want to dream that dream together. That’s why Donald Trump is back. Because America is back.

It’s true that majorities don’t always choose correctly. Remember Daniel in the lions den or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. But in the 2024 elections, the “best for the country” was obvious to a majority of people. As the hottest T-shirt in America now puts it, “Jesus is My Savior. Trump is my President.”

I’m very saddened my home state missed the wave. A favorite Abraham Lincoln quote on my office wall says:

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.

Right now I’m not proud of my state. Why were we more blind than 49 other states?

Because we foolishly accepted the lies and disinformation of the liberal (legacy) media.  Jarrett Stepman explains:

[Every] single narrative the media cooked up since Biden left the presidential race in July has crumbled.
Harris wasn’t bringing the politics of “joy” to America, she wasn’t leading “Hope and Change 2.0.”

Americans were in a dark mood. The cost of living has exploded during the Biden-Harris presidency, the chaos at the border affects nearly everyone, and the global geopolitical landscape appears ominous and worsening.

For many Americans who showed up on Election Day, it’s clear that Harris barely connected better with them than a poorly disguised hologram would. The fault in part lies with the Harris campaign to be sure. But the legacy media barely bothered to push the candidate to answer tough questions. From time to time, they grumbled, but they also seemed mostly content to let it slide.

The legacy media didn’t want to weaken Harris’ chances, especially given the narrow path she needed to travel to the presidency. It didn’t work. The American people saw right through the scam.

What do Washingtonians need do to get on the side of an American renewal?

We must start with humility. We bought the lies that Trump was a “threat to democracy.” But the only real threat is the Democratic Party and the elites who back them. Democracy spoke on November 5. We must repent of our deception and listen to the truth.

Washington State pastors should lead the way. 

Revivalist Charles Finney blamed pastors (the pulpit) for bad politics: 

If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in Christianity, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it. Let us not ignore this fact, my dear brethren; but let us lay it to heart, and be thoroughly awake to our responsibility in respect to the morals of this nation (December 4, 1873).

The pastors of Washington State must repent of our ignorance and cowardice and launch an evangelism explosion from Blaine to Vancouver–the western side of the mountains. (Eastern Washington voted wisely.) We must prayer walk every inch of the “west,” train up wise and discerning disciples, and put up “Citizenship” kiosks in every church facility.

I’m glad I live in Washington. Our family isn’t going anywhere. God can make the “last first and the first last.” C.T. Studd once said:

Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.