Kirby Wilbur Steps Down As State GOP Chair

Written by Venice Buhain

Washington State Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur has resigned from his post, saying that he has taken a position with an advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

“I am resigning as the chairman of the Washington State Republican Party, effective today at 5:00 p.m. I have been offered a five-year contract with the Young America’s Foundation that I would be foolish not to accept. I will be moving to the 'other' Washington within the next couple of months to write this next chapter of my life," he said in a prepared statement released Monday, July 29.

“It has been an honor to serve as chairman of the WSRP since January 2011. We have had many successes and I have had some failures. The Party has a good crop of up-and-coming leaders, and a strong staff, and it will continue to move forward no matter whose hand is on the helm.” 

Under Wilbur's leadership, the state Republican party took control of the state Senate in 2013 under the Majority Coalition Caucus, after caucusing with two Democrats, including the 48th District's Rodney Tom. Tom became the Senate Majority Leader.

However, the state GOP lost an open gubernatorial seat. Bellevue resident and former State Attorney General Rob McKenna, one of the few Republicans holding statewide office, lost the governor's race to Democrat Jay Inslee, a former Congressman. McKenna's old position was then won by a Democrat, former King County Councilman Bob Ferguson, who beat out Republican Reagan Dunn, a King County Councilman who represents parts of Bellevue and south King County, including Enumclaw.

That shift in offices left Secretary of State Kim Wyman as the only Republican in Washington state -- and on the west coast -- to hold a statewide office. Wyman, the former Thurston County Auditor, took the place of Secretary of State Sam Reed, a Republican who opted not to run for a third term.

Wilbur, a former talk radio host, defeated former Republican party chairman Luke Esser in 2011. Wilbur was re-elected as party chairman in January 2013. 

Wilbur's new place of employment, the Young America's Foundation, is an organization that reaches out to young conservatives, according to its website.

According to the Washington State Republican Party, Vice-Chair Luanne VanWerven will serve as interim chair. According to WSRP bylaws, the election of a permanent chair must take place within 90 days of Wilbur's resignation.