Culp promises to protect state Constitution at campaign event

Washington state gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp spoke Tuesday during a rally in Pullman and centered his message around upholding the State Constitution and protecting citizens’ “God-given” rights.

Nearly 100 people gathered outside in a field off of Wawawai Road to listen to speakers and music as part of what Culp’s campaign called a “Victory Protest.”

Culp, who is challenging Gov. Jay Inslee, said the governor is overstepping his bounds as a public servant and using his power to run people’s lives and businesses. He brought up the state’s COVID-19 rules as an example.

“(Inslee) decided who’s going to work, who’s not going to work, who’s going to be essential, who’s not essential,” he said. “I don’t want the governor to have that kind of power to begin with.”

Culp said that as governor he would educate people on what they should do to stay safe from viruses, but ultimately he would “let free individual citizens decide what’s best for themselves, their family and their business.”

He also criticized Inslee’s handling of the Black Lives Matter protests this year, particularly how he deployed unarmed National Guard troops and tried to negotiate with rioters.

“The United States government has a policy that they never negotiate with foreign terrorists, and the state of Washington should never negotiate with domestic terrorists either,” Culp said.

When addressing the recent wildfires that affected Washington, he attacked the governor for blaming the fires on climate change instead of poor forest management.

He criticized Senate Bill 5395, which is on the November ballot and would allow age-appropriate sexual health education for all students and excuse students at their parents’ request.

“It’s like a group of pedophiles got together and wrote that thing up,” he said.

Washington Attorney General candidate Matt Larkin and Washington state House Rep. Mary Dye were among the speakers at Tuesday’s event who spoke in support of Culp.

Dye was critical of the governor’s office limiting people’s ability to go to church or gather politically during the pandemic.

“This is the time to question: Is this the way we want to live?” she said. “Do we want to live with the tyranny of a single-person rule? No, of course not.”

Karma, the K-9 German Shepherd who works with Culp at the Republic Police Department, also took the stage Tuesday.

Anthony Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.