Governor Booth Gardner is fighting his last campaign.
After a career of successful political battles, including his tenure as Washington state’s most popular governor, Gardner wants to legalize physician-assisted suicide.
Shortly after leaving office the governor was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and two decades later it is slowly deteriorating his body towards an ugly demise.
To legalize assisted suicide, Gardner and his colleagues must convince a majority of voters to vote yes on ballot initiative 1000 – “Death with Dignity.”
Standing in his way are a number of individuals and groups vehemently opposed to assisted suicide, including Eileen Geller of the Coalition against Assisted Suicide, Duane French of Not Dead Yet, and Sister Sharon Park representing the Catholic Church. Similar ballot initiatives have been quashed by such groups in 17 other states.
The Last Campaign of Booth Gardner is an observational documentary following behind the scenes of both sides in this contentious campaign and is an intimate portrait of a man fighting his own physical deterioration to pass this legislation and solidify his legacy.