The end of the 2023 regular session of the State Legislature saw a changing of the guard in one legislative caucus. On that day — April 23 — then House Republican Leader JT Wilcox announced he was stepping down, that it was time for a new generation to take the reins for House Republicans.
Two days later, on April 25, House Republicans chose Representative Drew Stokesbary to be their new leader. Stokesbary had been the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, which, along with the Senate Ways & Means Committee, is responsible for crafting the biennial state operating budget.
Rep. Stokesbary, of Auburn, is an attorney by trade, with a wife and three young children. Why did he want the job as leader? And how will he work with majority Democrats in the House? Host Austin Jenkins puts those questions and more to the new House Republican Leader.
Plus, an exit interview with Representative JT Wilcox of Yelm. Why did he decide it was time for him to step down? What are his proudest accomplishments? And what is the state of the House Republican Caucus, and in general the state of the Republican Party in Washington state?