Late Washington state powerbroker Frank Chopp left a lasting legacy

Frank Chopp was the longest serving speaker of the House in Washington state history. He died on Saturday at the age of 71.

In a statement, his family said his sudden passing was due to a cardiac arrest.

RELATED: Former longtime Washington House Speaker Frank Chopp dies at 71

Pluribus News staff writer and former longtime public radio Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins covered Chopp for many years. KUOW’s Kim Malcolm talked to him about the influential legislator's legacy.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Kim Malcolm: Chopp served as speaker for nearly 20 years, from 2002 to 2019. When you think back on that era, what do you think his legacy is going to be?

Austin Jenkins: In his own words, Frank Chopp said fighting poverty and trying to help working families were in essence his North Stars. In many ways, he was kind of your classic FDR liberal. He believed that government could help those who are less fortunate, improve the lives of working families. That's really what guided him, whether that meant creating the Apple Health for Kids program to extend health insurance to literally hundreds of thousands of Washington youth, or co-founding the state's housing trust fund, which builds affordable housing throughout the state, or enacting the state's paid family leave program. These are among a long list of Chopp’s proudest accomplishments. I would say, ultimately, he was an evangelist for the social safety net, because he thought strong supports for kids and families would lift all boats.

Where do you think that drive to fight poverty came from?

Well, he grew up in Bremerton. His dad was a shipyard worker. His mom worked in the public schools. But even if you go back before that, his family had a history. They were immigrants. They had a history in the Cascade Mountains, working in the coal mines. In that sense, I just think he was always the kind of politician who was thinking about the worker, thinking about the struggling family, thinking about the family sitting around the dinner table trying to figure out how they were going to pay the bills. That was sort of his essence, and the mold of politician he was.

In his time in Olympia, he did gain a reputation as being one of the most powerful politicians there. Can you elaborate on why that was?

Well, he was the consummate politician and tactician. He came into the speakership during a tie in the House, so he had to share the speakership with the Republican, and then he worked to build solid majorities. He got the majority back, and he was as relentless about protecting that majority as he was about building that majority and as he was about passing the policies that he thought would make Washington state a better place to live.

That meant protecting his rural members and making sure that his freshman members didn't take bad votes that would come back to bite them in their first reelection campaign, when they would be especially vulnerable to reelection. He consolidated power. He operated the House, often from his corner office in the Capitol. He rarely presided over the House floor. When he came out and took the gavel, that was notable. Oftentimes, he was back in his office orchestrating the details of what would eventually happen on the floor. I often thought of him as sort of the man, maybe literally, the man behind the curtain.

From all the years that you covered Frank Chopp, is there a memory that stands out for you?

I have two. There was a time, and I don't remember the context exactly, when he took another reporter and myself out on a tour of projects that his beloved Housing Trust Fund had built in the Olympia area. I think we had questioned the effectiveness of that program, and he was not taking it. So, he literally took us out on this tour. We would stop in front of these buildings and get out, and he would tell us the story of how the state had built or remodeled a particular building. In those moments, he was in his element.

My other memory is of running into Speaker Chopp and his wife, Nancy, on a couple of occasions when they were walking in Seattle's Discovery Park on a weekend day. I thought, for a guy who seemed to always be working, it was really nice that he and his wife would take a little bit of time together to take a walk in one of Seattle's great parks, probably on a Sunday. By the way, he was not one for small talk, so we did not stop and chat. There would just be a little head nod or lifting of the eyebrows, and we would each go on our way.

In a statement, the Chopp family said they're planning a celebration of life in May, and in lieu of flowers, they're suggesting donations to the Low Income Housing Institute, and other nonprofits.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.