Republican Dan Evans, who dominated Washington state’s politics as governor and then a senator, died at age 98.
His death was confirmed by his sons, Mark, Bruce, and Dan Evans Jr., on Saturday.
“Dad lived an exceptionally full life,” they said in a statement obtained by the Seattle Times. “Whether serving in public office, working to improve higher education, mentoring aspiring public servants … he just kept signing up for stuff right until the end. He touched a lot of lives. And he did this without sacrificing family.”
He served as Washington’s second-to-last Republican governor from 1965 to 1977, then as its second-to-last Republican senator from 1983 to 1989. He was a domineering figure in the centrist wing of the Republican Party for much of the latter half of the 20th century.
“Dan Evans was an honorable, independent-minded public servant who put Washington state first and dedicated his life to protecting and investing in the places and people in our state,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said in a statement. “We were lucky to have him — and I have no doubt his legacy will live on for generations to come.”
Evans’s successor, Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA), echoed this sentiment.
“We all, no matter our party, can feel fortunate for the progress he led during each of his three terms as governor,” he said.
Evans was floated as a running mate for Richard Nixon in 1968, though lost out after backing primary rival Nelson Rockefeller. Though he gave the keynote address at the 1968 Republican National Convention, he used the occasion to call for a progressive turn of the party and refused to endorse Nixon. Gerald Ford considered Evans for vice president twice.
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He expressed frustration with the Senate and didn’t seek reelection, warning in a 1988 essay for the New York Times magazine that it was “a legislative body that had lost its focus and was in danger of losing its soul.”
Prior to his death, he was the oldest living senator, the only one born in the 1920s, and the second-oldest living governor.
