Former Sen. Slade Gorton has endorsed John McCain for president and will be his campaign chairman in Washington state. The McCain campaign just sent out a press release making the announcement.

In 2000, then still a senator, Gorton backed George W. Bush over McCain in the Republican primary. In his statement today Gorton mentioned McCain's work "trimming down government waste." In 2000 McCain used a Gorton project as an example of that waste.

McCain has been critical of some federal programs to help restore salmon runs. His campaign publicizes a list of pork-barrel projects and included an $80 million appropriation for Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery — a program supported by fellow Republican Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington.