Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard

SPOKANE – Semi Bird got his moment. Jaime Herrera Beutler got rebuffed. Dan Newhouse continues to pay a price for his vote to impeach the former president.

And leaders of the Washington State Republican Party will leave Spokane Saturday evening with an endorsed slate of candidates but also continued discord in their ranks.

“This is a family feud. We have to sit around here and figure out how the family comes back together,” said Mathew Patrick Thomas, chair of the King County Republican Party. ...

A Republican state lawmaker violated legislative conduct rules by repeatedly belittling, berating and swearing at staff members, leaving some “traumatized” by the experience, concludes an investigation released Monday by the chief clerk of the Washington House of Representatives.

Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Gig Harbor, demonstrated “a pattern of behavior in which she lashes out at people, makes public statements that have the impact of demeaning and embarrassing individuals and is generally disrespectful,” wrote Sheryl Willert, an employment law expert hired by the House to conduct the probe.

Her actions violate a House workplace policy that bans verbal abuse and bullying, which may include threatening, humiliating, degrading, or intimidating behavior, Willert concluded. ...

State Rep. Jim Walsh of Aberdeen and Matt Hawkins of the Spokane County Republican Party, are competing for the chairmanship in an Aug. 12 election.

Walsh has reportedly secured support of at least 80% of the 117 party officials eligible for the vote, which will be held during a party meeting in Olympia. That group is composed of the chair and two state committee members from each of the state’s 39 county Republican parties.

The next chair will take the helm of a party that has struggled in Washington in recent years to gain power at the state level and in Congress, particularly as former President Donald Trump has soured the GOP’s brand for many moderate voters. ...