Dan Evans recognized for outstanding service to State of Washington

Oct. 17, 2023

On the day after his 98th birthday, the King County Council recognized former Senator and Governor Dan Evans for his many years of outstanding service to the State of Washington, both at home and in the other Washington.

“I have served nearly 50 years in Washington state politics, and would be hard pressed to find a better example of the good in politics and public service than Dan Evans,” said Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer, who co-sponsored the Recognition.  “I was fortunate to serve in the state senate while he was governor and to see his work firsthand.  Today we live in an era of division at all levels of government, but when Dan served, he was a master of reaching across the aisle, working with two Democratic senators when he was governor and with a Democratic governor when he was a senator.”

“Dan was also a groundbreaking legislator when it came to the environment,” continued von Reichbauer.  “In the early 1970s, when most politicians weren’t focused on the environment, Dan made Washington state a frontrunner in environmental protection.  From establishing the first, state-level ecology department in the United States and cofounding the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition, to helping pass the 1984 Washington Wilderness Act and the 1988 Washington Park Wilderness Act when he was a United States Senator, Dan built an environmental ethos that still runs through our state today.  Dan took risks for the issues he believed in, even when they weren’t popular, and our state is eternally grateful he did.”

Dan Evans has made a lifetime of public service.  After serving in the Navy during the Korean War, Dan was elected to the Washington State legislature, where he was a state representative until running for governor in 1964.  Dan served as Washington State Governor for three terms, from 1965 to 1977, and went on to serve as a U.S. Senator representing Washington state until 1988.  Outside of his political career, Dan was active in education, presiding as President of the Evergreen State College, and serving 12 years as a regent at the University of Washington, which named its School of Public Affairs after him.

“There’s not been much of consequence that Dan Evans didn’t work on during his time in public office and in other work,” Kohl-Welles said. “To me, he is a legend, a hero. A one of a kind who I can’t imagine being replaced. I was privileged to get to know him as a new legislator, in particular in sharing a love for and high priority for ensuring access to affordable, equitable, quality higher education.”