Who was Governor Bundy?

 

Ted Bundy was possibly the most bizarre Governor of Washington ever simultaneously remembered as the founder of the modern Republican Party in Washington and depending on who you ask either a valiant moderate or an opportunistic no politics joker who tanked his career and was two narcissistic to admit it but also…….a rapist. Let me explain. 

The year was 1976 the Republicans were Panicking. John Spellman had decided to claw his way into the house before any significant Governor’s run and had dropped out. The GOP not content to run John Patric who despite being a filed Republican candidate had no intention of being the governor so they looked elsewhere and eventually their candidate came through Daniel J. Evans who recommended his sharp and charismatic campaign manager Theodore/Ted Bundy who the GOP reluctantly chose. In a huge shock teed up against Dixie Lee Ray in a run off Ted Bundy got a home run and was elected the seventeenth governor of Washington State.

Immediately the GOP was not happy but many voters were Bundy went to work passing some significant environmental regulations, a very accommodating posture to Seattle’s political interests and was known for his massive investment into tourism. During his term Bundy’s main failure was an overtly heavy handed approach to the risk of Mount St. Helens erupting which Bundy partially overreacted to evacuating about 70 more miles then were needed but he did save between 5,000 and 30,000 lives. 

By 1980 Bundy was a unique figure in National GOP politics. Considered the last of the Rockefeller Republicans but there was trouble leering over him. In early 1980 a rural Washington paper was provided with the anonymous testimony of a former aide of Bundy’s she said he had sexually harassed and groped her and when she refused his advances he deeply demoted her and after a month fired her. The anonymous aide claimed he only treated aides well if they accepted his advances and his personal assistant only had the job because she was in a sexual relationship with him. These allegations were true but unsubstantiated the paper asked for evidence and when none was provided disclaimed their interest in the story with the National Enquirer running it instead with few believing them.

Also in 1980 Bundy threw his full weight behind John B. Anderson in the Republican primary but holding little sway in the Midwest and especially little in Iowa he did not help Anderson much and eventually when he dropped out of the race Bundy reluctantly endorsed Ronald Reagan and spoke in favor of him during the 1980 convention. Bundy then quickly turned 180 degrees when Anderson announced an independent run endorsing him instead and thereby forever making an enemy out of Reagan.

In 1982 Bundy had a tough fight on his hands for his job, he filed to run again but John Spellman was ready this time and with significant Republican backing and a personal endorsement from Ronald Reagan Bundy saw the writing on the wall and after a final Hail Mary attempt to curry favor among Seattle democrats failed Bundy lost coming in third in the open primary with 26% of the vote. 

After Ted Bundy lost his race he flailed in his political career failing in a 1983 run for mayor of Seattle by a surprisingly wide margin but successfully working with democrats to undermine Governor Spellman at every step. Eventually having a falling out with his opposing party after they refused to support him for a third run at the governor’s race.

In 1984 Bundy made a short comeback into the national scene making headlines for again eschewing Reagan to this time endorse Walter Mondale who he attempted to campaign for but was rebuffed at every stage.

In 1984 Bundy also took a shot at his old job in his third run for governor of Washington. He failed pulling only about 8% in the Republican Primary but his endorsement of democrat Booth Gardener helped pull him over the hump for a 10% victory.

1986 came and went for Bundy who ran for senate challenging Slade Gorton only pulling about 5% and being blamed for spoiling the election in favor of democrat Brock Adams an assertion Bundy was completely fine with and even leaned into when he ran again in 1988 once again pulling about 5%.

By the 1990s Ted Bundy’s career was mostly dead apart from some scattered runs for positions in Seattle coming up far short in almost all of them and pursuing some offices as a Libertarian or Independent not as a Republican. Bundy’s biggest impact was behind the scenes where he mentored a variety of Republican figures quietly drifting the chapter to the left of the National GOP.

By the 2000s the party had swung to the left and Bundy’s health was declining seemingly without cause. Bundy received one last hurrah when he proved a stiff challenge to obscure candidate Dino Rossi grabbing 31% of the vote. 

Ted Bundy died of Pancreatic Cancer after one more campaign for District  Attorney of King’s County pulling 12%. He left a left leaning GOP chapter a legacy of environmentalism and rape. A year after his death 4 former aides came forward with credible allegations of rape and the old National Enquirer resurfaced a legacy tarnished forever.