Another WA state Republican candidate walks back his voter fraud claims
Another Washington state Republican candidate has deleted some of their social media post history about election integrity as the Nov. 8 election day closes in.
McClatchy recently spoke with Travis Couture, a candidate for position 2 in the 35th district with the state House of Representatives. As of Monday, one of his tweets in question had been deleted after being available last week, but is still available on a web archive.
That tweet was in response to an NPR article that quoted former First Lady Michelle Obama urging a peaceful transition of power during the 2020 presidential election.
“Spy on Trump and attempt basically a 4 year coup and now you want a smooth happy transition for Biden after stealing the election? get bent” Couture said in his response tweet.
When pressed for details, Couture walked back his statement.
“I don’t know if I believe that anymore, if I did, but you know, sometimes you say things after an election just to blow off some steam and sometimes I can be a little too mouthy,” Couture told McClatchy about the now-deleted tweet. “If someone asked me right now, Biden won the election, and that’s what I would say on the campaign trail.”
Couture also added that he thinks there are many more pressing issues, such as education, public safety, affordable housing, childcare, transportation and homelessness that need to be handled.
But as a recent Axios article pointed out, candidates like Couture are not alone in their efforts to walk back statements about voter fraud conspiracies, as Republican candidates in several states including Washington have curbed their own rhetoric regarding the 2020 election as well as hardline abortion-related stances. Tiffany Smiley for example, a candidate for the U.S. Senate position in Washington, recently deleted portions of her campaign website where she questioned election integrity.
In other tweets, which are still available, Couture compared 2020 Black Lives Matter protesters to terrorists after the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Referring to an interview with U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene and U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal who shared their experiences about being at the Capitol on that day, Couture tweeted, “As they promote a domestic terror group that openly called for the death of police officers... cry me a f–g river.”
“Imagine you send tons of cash to dictators and foreign countries, start multiple endless wars, spy on your own citizens, openly promoting fringe groups that terrorize communities and call for the death of all cops, and then call the people who challenge you on it terrorists?” Couture also tweeted just days after Jan. 6.
He maintained that he didn’t believe politics was the place for violence, and said he believes in “peaceful transitions of power.”
Couture and his opponent Democrat Sandy Kaiser are vying for the House of Representatives position in the 35th district that is currently held by Republican House Rep. Drew MacEwen. MacEwen announced earlier this year that he will instead campaign for Sen. Tim Sheldon’s position, who announced his retirement earlier this year from the state Legislature.
Kaiser told McClatchy that she found Couture’s social media comments “incredibly disappointing and repugnant.”
“It doesn’t reflect our values, it doesn’t reflect our priorities and false information is a danger to our local, state and federal government,” she added. Kaiser noted that she thinks it is “deeply cynical and revealing” that Couture deleted one of his past tweets.
Another point of disagreement for the two 35th district candidates: voting security in Washington state.
Couture claimed on a voter’s guide, for example, that “many people have lost confidence and trust” in the voting system.
“We must ensure that elections are safe and fair, and every legal vote is counted,” his statement reads. “In Washington, voter rolls must be cleaned, and many feel mail in voting is not secure. When an election is unsecure, it disenfranchises every other voter.”
Couture also told McClatchy that he hears about mail-in voting concerns on the campaign trail frequently, and that he believes there is always room to make voting more secure.
But Kaiser said she is not hearing the same with voters while campaigning. The 35th district, which covers parts of Olympia, Rochester and Bremerton, is a “fairly politically diverse district,” said Kaiser. “But it’s pretty clear that this attitude that is exhibited in these tweets does not reflect our district or our local values.”
“I think our elections are actually a gold standard for security in the United States,” said Kaiser. “We had really good leadership from Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman who was really good at anticipating and preparing us for threats to our elections from within and without.”
Voters in Washington have until Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. to return their ballots.
This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Another WA state Republican candidate walks back his voter fraud claims."
