(The Center Square) – We’re just over one week away from America’s 250th anniversary celebration, and Washington state is joining in on the national festivities.
July 4, 2026, marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and every state in the nation is hosting its own celebrations, service projects and education initiatives to mark the occasion.
Washington’s official commemoration is spearheaded by the Washington State Historical Society, and a Washington 250 committee has been responsible for coming up with a list of events “that will help all Washingtonians feel more connected to their history and to gain a better understanding of the foundational principles, structure, and purpose of our democratic system,” according to the America250wa.org website.
Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck chaired the Washington 250 Committee and spoke with The Center Square on Thursday, sharing how members at times disagreed what the takeaways should be for Washington’s 250 commemorations.
“You will recall that there was a period of time, some time ago, I admitted to some discouragement,” he said. “There were some people who wanted the 250 celebrations to be some kind of hyperbolic nationalistic celebration, and other people who wanted it to be this history interrogation on steroids.”
As reported by The Center Square following a July 11, 2025, Washington 250 Committee meeting, Heck made it clear he was not pleased with the direction some members wanted to go.
Jennifer Kilmer, executive director of the Washington State Historical Society, suggested they focus on education efforts around tribal sovereignty and history and recognition of historically marginalized communities.
Heck pushed back.
“I’m disappointed, and I’m disappointed in a couple regards,” he said at the time. “I’m disappointed that there’s no specific reference and precious attention to commemorating the founding of the republic.”
At the same meeting, Rep. Kristine Reeves, D-Federal Way, told the group, “Not everybody is exactly excited about celebrating America.”
She said she wanted the “harms of the past” to be front and center.
“Just making sure that we are taking that delicate balance between celebrating our country and recognizing that that also meant manifest destiny, that also meant slavery, that also meant a lot of other things are critical to the heritage and history of that founding,” Reeves said. “And the impacts that it had long term.”
Heck spoke up again to say while acknowledging mistakes of the past, he wanted more of the focus to be on celebrating America.
This week, Heck said that in the months that followed, the committee came together in agreement on how Washington would mark the monumental occasion in a more celebratory way.
“The closer we got, the more community oriented the celebrations became. And they frankly….and this is not hyperbole…just fill my heart with joy when I think about all the things that are going on in communities around the state. It’s such a wonderful time,” said Heck.
Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, is also a member of the Washington 250 Committee.
“The first 250th is not a time to politicize and attack our achievements. There are those that wish to portray negativity and focus on advancing further liberal agendas,” wrote Wilson via text to The Center Square.
“Time to be proud of all Americans who gave their life while serving our country in order to allow those complainers to even have the right to complain.”
As President of the Washington State Senate, Heck told The Center Square he acknowledges the country and certainly Washington state are as divided as ever, politically.
“I have concerns for my country. But what I choose to do is focus on the things that we have in common. What I choose to do is to remind ourselves that our nation’s motto is E pluribus unum; out of many one. And it begs or prompts the question, what is that? It gets back to that greatest sentence ever written.”
Heck was referring to the second sentence in the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“I believe two things. I believe we don’t have to hate each other just because we disagree. And I believe you cannot love America if you hate half of Americans,” Heck said.
“And I would say that about both sides of the debate. We are, at the end of the day, all Americans.”