Robert Steven Chase (born August 2, 1953) is an American politician and businessman. A Republican, he was a member of the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

from the 4th district. Elected in 2020, he assumed office on January 11, 2021.

Education

Chase earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration from

Eastern Washington University Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington, United States. It shares its satellite campus in Spokane, Washington with Washington State University. Founded in 1882, the university is academically divided in ...

Career

Chase is a former

real estate agent Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...

. In 2002, he unsuccessfully ran for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

as a Libertarian Party candidate against Republican incumbent

George Nethercutt George Rector Nethercutt Jr. (October 7, 1944 – June 14, 2024) was an American lawyer, author, and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he rose to national attention upon his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, wh ...

; in the 2002

blanket primary The blanket primary is a system used for selecting political party candidates in a Partisan primary, primary election, used in Argentina and historically in the United States. In a blanket primary, voters may pick one candidate for each office wit ...

, he won 5% of the vote. In 2010, Chase won election as

Spokane County Spokane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 539,339, making it the fourth-most populous county in Washington. The largest city and county seat is Spokane, the second largest c ...

treasurer; as a

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

, he qualified in the primary election for the general election ballot, and went on to defeat Democratic incumbent Skip Chillberg. He was reelected to the position in 2014, defeating fellow Republican Mary Kuney.Amy Edelen
Kuney defeats Chase for seat on Spokane County Commission
, Associated Press (November 7, 2018). He worked for

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas' ...

's presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012 in

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the H ...

. During his time as county treasurer, Chase was one of the chief proponents of a public entity bid to acquire

Avista Avista Corporation is an American energy company which generates and transmits electricity and distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Approximately 1,550 employees provide electricity, natural gas, and othe ...

, either by an

electric cooperative A utility cooperative is a type of cooperative that is tasked with the delivery of a public utility such as electricity, water or telecommunications to its members. Profits are either reinvested for infrastructure or distributed to members in t ...

or by a

special-purpose district Special districts (also known as special service districts, special district governments, or limited purpose entities) are independent, special-purpose governmental units that exist separately from local governments such as county, municipal, and ...

, and he tried to block Avista's sale to

Hydro One Hydro One Limited is an Electric power transmission, electricity transmission and distribution Electric utility, utility serving the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Hydro One traces its history to the early 2 ...

. In 2018, Chase ran for Spokane County Commission, but was defeated by Kuney. In 2020, he announced that he would challenge incumbent Congresswoman

Cathy McMorris Rodgers Cathy Anne McMorris Rodgers (born May 22, 1969) is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2025 as the United States representative for , which encompasses the eastern third of the state and includes Spokane, the state's second-largest cit ...

in the Republican primary for

Washington's 5th congressional district Washington's 5th congressional district encompasses the Eastern Washington counties of Ferry County, Washington, Ferry, Stevens County, Washington, Stevens, Pend Oreille County, Washington, Pend Oreille, Lincoln County, Washington, Lincoln, Spok ...

. He later dropped out of that race to run for

instead.Doug Nadvornick
Chase, Gurel Run For Open Seat In WA Fourth Legislative District
, Spokane Public Radio (October 16, 2020). He defeated Democratic nominee Lance Gurel in the November 2020 general election.Roger Harnack

, ''Cheney Free Press'' (November 6, 2020). Chase's district, the Fourth Legislative District, covers the communities of

Spokane Valley, Washington Spokane Valley is a city in Spokane County, Washington, United States, and the largest suburb of Spokane, Washington, Spokane. It is located east of Spokane, west of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and surrounds the city of Millwood, Washington, Millwood ...

and Liberty Lake; parts of

Mead Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...

; and northwest Spokane County.Kip Hill
State Rep. Rob Chase's anti-vaccine comments removed from Facebook, called 'false information'
, ''Spokesman-Review'' (July 21, 2021). Chase is a vocal supporter of

Matt Shea Matthew Thomas Shea (born April 18, 1974) is an American far-right lawyer, pastor, and politician. A Republican, he represented the 4th legislative district in the Washington House of Representatives from 2009 to 2021. A 2019 report published ...

, a Washington state representative who was expelled from the House Republican Caucus after an independent investigation determined that Shea participated in acts of

domestic terrorism Domestic terrorism or homegrown terrorism is a form of terrorism in which victims "within a country are targeted by a perpetrator with the same citizenship" as the victims.Gary M. Jackson, ''Predicting Malicious Behavior: Tools and Techniques ...

. Chase holds the state House seat formerly held by Shea. In 2020, Chase said, "I stand by Matt Shea. I don't think he did anything illegal." Chase supports the creation of a create a new

51st state "51st state" is a phrase used in the United States of America to refer to the idea of adding an additional state to the current 50-state Union. Proposals for a 51st state may include granting statehood to one of the U.S. territories or Washing ...

(the " State of Liberty") to be formed by the

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

of Eastern Washington from the rest of the state, an idea previously promoted by Shea; Chase introduced legislation for Eastern Washington secession in 2021.Nick Bowman
With Matt Shea out, yearly push for Eastern Washington secession gets new co-sponsors
, KIRO-FM (January 18, 2021). Chase has previously promoted various extremist

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

; in online writings, he has promoted

QAnon QAnon ( ) is a far-right conspiracy theories in United States politics, American political conspiracy theory and political movement that originated in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals kno ...

birtherism During Barack Obama's campaign for president in 2008, throughout his presidency and afterwards, there was extensive news coverage of Obama's religious preference, birthplace, and of the individuals questioning his religious belief and citiz ...

, and

chemtrails The chemtrail conspiracy theory is the erroneous belief that long-lasting Contrail, condensation trails left in the sky by high-flying aircraft are actually "chemtrails" consisting of chemical weapon, chemical or biological agents, sprayed f ...

.Daniel Walters
Matt Shea-endorsed candidate Rob Chase dabbles in QAnon, 9/11 and other wild conspiracy theories
, ''Inlander'' (August 27, 220). In 2019, Chase shared a link on Facebook to a report baselessly claiming that the September 11 attacks were an inside job involving "the Zionists" and others, and that the " Boston Bombing,

Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern en ...

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

, and

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

" attacks were all "false flag" hoaxes. After taking office in 2021, Chase hired Cecily Wright, the former chair of the Spokane County Republican Party and a longtime associate, as his legislative assistant. Wright was ousted from her chairmanship of the county party in 2018, after she defended

white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...

James Allsup James Orien Allsup (born September 7, 1995) is an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and former political commentator and podcaster. In 2015, Allsup began his participation in politics when he was elected president of Washington State Univ ...

, who had been unseated as a Whitman County precinct committee officer after he marched at the violent

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

Unite the Right rally The Unite the Right rally was a White supremacy#United States, white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, whi ...

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

, in 2017. Chase defended Wright as having "a good reputation" and being "dependable and loyal." Chase has pushed Donald Trump's false claim that the 2020 presidential election was marred by fraud. Although no evidence supports this claim, in August 2021, Chase and four other state Republican lawmakers (

Robert Sutherland Robert Sutherland (1830–1878), a native of Jamaica, was the first known Black graduate at a Canadian university, and the first Black man to study law in British North America.Queens UniversityQueensU.ca "Alumni." Retrieved on: 2009-05-30 A ...

, Jim Walsh, Vicki Kraft, and Bob McCaslin Jr.) held an unofficial hearing at a

Snohomish, Washington Snohomish () is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 10,126 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located on the Snohomish River, southeast of E ...

church calling for "forensic audit" to take place in Washington State similar to the criticized Arizona audit. The organizers of the event invited speakers who have falsely claimed voter fraud. Trump was defeated by Joe Biden in Washington state by almost 785,000 votes. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Chase promoted

COVID-19 misinformation False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messagi ...

. In a July 2021 Facebook post, Chase compared the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...

s to Nazi medical experimentation and falsely claimed that the COVID-19 vaccine "is not a vaccine"; that the vaccine "is not tested"; that the vaccine was the result of a nefarious conspiracy orchestrated by

George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...

; and there are many "natural cures" for COVID-19. None of these claims are true. In 2022, Chase was unseated by businessman and former appointed representative Leonard Christian. Christian attributed his victory to Chase's far-right views. In 2024, Chase was reelected to the Fourth Legislative District.

References

External links

Rob Chase at ourcampaigns.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chase, Rob Living people People from Spokane County, Washington Eastern Washington University alumni Republican Party members of the Washington House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Washington State Legislature Businesspeople from Washington (state) Politicians from Spokane, Washington People from Spokane Valley, Washington 1953 births