OLYMPIA -- A policy adviser for Rob McKenna's gubernatorial campaign resigned today after apologizing for making derogatory remarks about Asians and the elderly on the Internet.

Kathlyn Ehls submitted her resignation, which campaign manager Randy Pepples said in a press release he accepted after she met with leaders of the campaign's Asian American Coalition. “It was important for her to thoroughly understand their feelings and to apologize to them for her comments," he said.

In comments posted on Twitter several months before she joined the campaign, Ehls wrote Asians should "learn English" and that senior citizens who take too long to cross the street in front of her car should "get a wheelchair."   (For an earlier post on this, click here.)

Ehls' termination was at the top of a list for a "true mea culpa" that a group describing itself "Concernd Asian Pacific Islanders" was demanding as it announced plans to protest outside McKenna's headquarters today. Other items on the list included "not wage war on unions", support for same-sex marriage and the Affordable Care Act and a jobs plan that doesn't sacrifice the envirobnment, quality of life but provides wages that meet "basic needs" for families.

Five Asian-American legislators -- all Democrats -- also called for her termination: “One tweet reveals a callous insensitivity toward the multiple challenges faced by non-native English speaking immigrants and refugees.  As long-time champions of English Language Learning (ELL) opportunities and initiatives, we call on both Mr. McKenna and Mr. Inslee to declare their commitment to full funding for ELL programs as well as for other immigrant and refugee integration programs that assist in the transition to life in America.”

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