Former KIRO 7 anchor Susan Hutchison elected chair of Wash. Republican Party

SPOKANE, Wash. — Former KIRO 7 anchor Susan Hutchison has been elected new chair of the Washington State Republican Party.

The Seattle Times reported Hutchison defeated the interim GOP chair, Luanne Van Werven, in a run-off vote after two other candidates were eliminated at the party's meeting in Spokane on Saturday.

Hutchison ran unsuccessfully for King County Executive in 2009, downplaying her Republican ties.

On Saturday, she pledged to breathe new life into a state Republican Party that has suffered stinging election defeats.

Hutchison says the party is "nearly broke," has a "useless" website and a get-out-the-vote operation that is spotty in some places and ineffective in others.

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