Gorton, an heir to a New England Seafood family, is probably most remembered for two things, for knocking off the iconic Senator Warren Magnuson and also to helping keep the Mariners in Seattle.
Gorton served in the state legislature, beating my uncle, Arny Barer in 1964.
In 1968, Gorton was elected Washington State Attorney General. When the Seattle Pilots, a Major League Baseball expansion team moved to Milwaukee., Gorton sued MLB, and as a settlement, Seattle was granted a second expansion team, the Mariners.
Gorton would serve 3 terms as AG, then in 1980, he ran against for US Senate against Magnuson. Magnuson had served 36 years in the senate, but Gorton, bouyed by the Reagan presidential landslide and Magnuson appearing much older than 75, defeated the state's senior senator.
Gorton was considered a moderate, but Republican politics starting moving to the Right. Democrats would not forgive Gorton for beating their standard bearer. Gorton lost his bid for a second term to Brock Adams.
When Washington's other Senator Dan Evans, announced he would not run for reelection, Gorton was able to return to the senate by beating congressman Mike Lowry for the former governor's seat. It was then that he helped save the Seattle Mariners, who were planning to move to Tampa Bay. After losing the Seattle Pilots, area fans were not ready to embrace a new baseball team, owners were losing money and it was thought that Seattle would never accept baseball. Gorton worked to get new ownership for the team. Then as the team started to improve, he worked to have a new stadium built in what is now considered one of the most divisive issues in Seattle politics.
In 2000, Gorton lost for the second time to Democrat Maria Cantwell, who still serves in that position.
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