Kirby Wilbur unseats Esser to become new head of state Republican Party

The state Republican Party made a change at the top Saturday, unseating party Chairman Luke Esser in favor of longtime conservative radio host Kirby Wilbur.

Esser, a former state legislator, campaigned to keep his job, arguing the state party was better off "by every meaningful measure" than it was four years ago when he was elected.

In November, Republicans gained several seats in the state Legislature and elected Jaime Herrera Beutler to the open seat in the 3rd Congressional District.

"It wasn't an accident; it wasn't luck," Esser said, crediting the state party's fundraising and get-out-the-vote efforts.

Esser also had the backing of state Attorney General Rob McKenna, the presumed GOP front-runner for governor in 2012. McKenna personally lobbied GOP activists on Esser's behalf in recent days.

But Republican leaders who gathered at a Tukwila hotel ballroom on Saturday rejected that advice. They picked Wilbur on the first ballot, giving him 69 votes to Esser's 36.

Wilbur capitalized on discontent among Republicans who believe the party should have won more races in November, given the national political climate.

"The question is not, are we better off. The question is, are we as good as we could be?" Wilbur said.

Despite GOP gains, Democrats still control both houses of the Legislature and a majority of the state's congressional seats. And a Republican hasn't been elected governor here since 1980.

Wilbur argued that Republicans could be the majority party in Washington state if the party welcomed new blood and marketed itself better to voters.

After all, he said, in November's election voters sided with the GOP position on several pocketbook issues. They rejected a proposed income tax on the wealthy and repealed new taxes on soda, candy and bottled water.

Yet many of those same voters sent Democrats back to the state Legislature and Congress, Wilbur said.

"We can do better; that's the issue to me," he said.

Wilbur is well-known to many conservatives for his 16-year run as a talk-show host on Seattle's KVI-AM. His show was canceled in 2009, and the station since has switched to an oldies-music format.

Last year, Wilbur ran the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political nonprofit. The group spent about $30,000 on mailers criticizing Democratic state legislators before the 2010 election, according to a campaign-finance report.

The state Democratic Party has filed a complaint against the group with the state Public Disclosure Commission, arguing it failed to adequately disclose its activities and donors.

Wilbur said he believes the group complied with state law and that if any mistakes occurred, they were inadvertent.

The PDC has not ruled yet on the Democrats' complaint.

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com