Slade Gorton, Former Washington U.S. Senator, Dies

SEATTLE (AP) – Slade Gorton, a three-term U.S. senator and a rare Republican in Democratic Washington state, has died. He was 92.

In a 40-year political career, he served in the Legislature and as state attorney general before he became a senator.

He later served on the 9/11 Commission.

Gorton served as Senate Republican leader before Democrat Maria Cantwell and the growing influence of the liberal Seattle-area electorate ousted him in a tight election in 2000.

A self-described baseball nut, Gorton twice went to bat to keep the Seattle Mariners from leaving the city.