Gubernatorial candidate appears at a Patriots United event Thursday in Washougal

Leah Anaya
For Clark County Today

Gubernatorial Candidate Semi Bird was in Southwest Washington for a Patriots United event Thursday, speaking to several hundred people at the Black Pearl on the Columbia in Washougal. Bird has announced his candidacy for the next election as a Republican to replace current Gov. Jay Inslee, who has yet to announce whether he will be seeking reelection. If Inslee does run again, it will be for an unprecedented fourth term in Washington, which does not have term limits for governors. 

Voted to chair the Benton County Republican Party and also a precinct committee officer for the same, Bird describes himself as a Constitutional Christian Conservative. He spoke about his love of God during Thursday night’s event, but said he is dedicated to serving all people in Washington state, not just those who worship the same God. 

“A politician’s job is to do the will of the people,” he said. He noted that many policies held by the far left, who are also referred to as the “progressive left” are actually regressive and bring people of color down a dangerous road back towards slavery. He offered his term on the school board as an example of this: 

“As soon as they heard that I, a black man, was against CRT, the smear campaign started.” He said that people who identify as progressive left supported his run as a person of color until they found out he disagreed with their policies; then they quickly abandoned him. 

Discussing his upbringing and the path he’s taken in life, Bird, a decorated veteran of the US Marines and US Army, said that some have already begun placing importance on the color of his skin. He noted a Washington Times article that said a “black conservative was running to shake up” the governor’s race. 

“I’m more than just my skin color,” Bird said. “Republicans don’t talk about race. We don’t care [about skin color]. That article said that I would be the first black governor in US History. Well great. But I want to be a governor that serves the people, doesn’t matter that I’m black.” Bird said that his life “is a living testament to the greatness of God and the greatness of America.” 

“If you look at my record,” Bird said, “I’ve done everything I said I would do when I ran for election. We need more of that- people who will both talk the talk and walk the walk. Integrity matters.” 

Most attendees of the Thursday meeting were on the political right. To that end, Bird said, “If you’re a Republican in this room, understand, you are the Party of Lincoln. The Party of abolition. You’re the party that ended slavery! The party that got Civil Rights! Take back your history! Take back the Republican Party!” 

Bird was asked questions regarding his platform on things like his plan to win and his stances on education, public safety, and businesses. In response, he said that he didn’t just “wake up and plan to run for governor.” He researched, he made phone calls to people with all political backgrounds to ask what they were looking for in a leader, he studied other campaigns, and he set up a great team around him. He said he announced early on purpose to get an “early start,” and said he wanted to engage voters from all backgrounds to earn their trust and their vote. He wants to place at least some focus, he said, on educating voters, specifically “inner city churches,” minority voters, and those aged 18-30. 

Bird discussed education and his support for school choice, specifically for parents to allow their children to focus on learning rather than “social engineering.” “We are focusing on social engineering, and failing our kids with substandard education,” Bird said. He said he would focus on refunding police departments for local agencies, and stated his plan would be to declare a state of emergency for homelessness so that he would have many more resources available to combat the issue. 

Bird is an advocate of getting help for persons addicted to drugs, which is a big contributing factor to the homeless problem, without enabling their addictions. He wants to bring unity to the state across the political aisle, and he also wants to heal the rift between the police and some communities. Bird supports practices that will assist small and medium sized businesses, and said that supporting these businesses is a way to help people, especially minorities, get themselves off of welfare and stay off, empowering them to support themselves. 

Bird said that he plans on working with existing groups who were in attendance to the event like Patriots United, Informed Choice Washington, Moms for America, and Let’s Go Washington, to accomplish his goals for the governorship.