TACOMA — The Pierce County Republican Party and an anti-abortion group have reached an agreement with the Washington State Fair after controversy over new fair guidelines led the groups to say that they wouldn’t participate in the event.

The Pierce County GOP and Washington Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion group, both publicly said they wouldn’t participate in this year’s fair, after the fair asked them to move to a “free speech area.”

Following meetings with the groups on Thursday, fair officials reversed course and said the groups won’t have to move to the free speech area during the fair, which will run from Aug. 29 to Sept. 21 in Puyallup.

Stacy Van Horne, spokesperson for the fair, told The News Tribune on Wednesday that the organizations had not been banned from the fair — rath

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