Competitive primary elections coming in August

Ken Stern | May 27, 20200

Multiple candidates filed for several county and state offices by the May 15 deadline, bringing excitement to both Skagit County’s Aug. 4 primary and its Nov. 3 general elections.

The Legislative District 10 senate seat and its two state house seats are hotly contested, with hundreds of thousands of dollars already collectively raised. Retiring Rep. Norma Smith’s Position 1 seat has drawn five candidates. Greg Gilday is the lone Republican, while Democrat Scott McMullen is the lone Skagit County resident. The other candidates, Democrats from Island County, are Angie Homola, Ivan Lewis and Suzanne Woodard.

For LD 10 Position 2, La Conner’s Bill Bruch, Skagit County Republican Party chair, and Taylor Zimmerman, a Mount Vernon Progressive, are challenging incumbent Dave Paul (D-Oak Harbor). Zimmerman filed just before the deadline and is not listed by the Public Disclosure Commission as having a campaign. If he drops out, there will not be an August ballot.

Sen. Ron Muzzall, (R-Oak Harbor), appointed last fall when Sen. Barbara Bailey retired, has Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson, a Democrat from Clinton, for his November opponent.

District 1 County Commissioner Ron Wesen (R-Bow) has two Democratic challengers, both from the Anacortes area: Johnny Archibald and Mark Lundsten. District 2 Commissioner Ken Dahlstedt (D) has fellow Mount Vernon competitors, Peter Browning, no party preference, and Mary Hudson, a Democrat.

Skagit County Superior Court Position 3 is the only contested judicial seat. The three candidates, all from Mount Vernon, are Elizabeth Yost Neidzwski, Heather Shand Perkins and Tom Seguine.

Public Utility District (PUD) Commissioner, District 1 has five candidates for the August primary: Kenneth Goodwin, Wim Houppermans, Andrew Miller, Bryce Nickel and Rick Pitt.

U.S. Congressional Representative Rick Larsen (D-Everett) has seven challengers for his second district seat: Democrat Jason Call and Republicans James Dean Golder, Cody Hart, Timothy Hazelo, Kari Ilonummi, Carrie Kennedy and Tim Uy.

First District U.S. Congressional Representative Suzan DelBene (D-Kirkland) has six challengers for her job: Republicans Jeffrey Beeler, Sr. and Derek Chartrand, Steven Skelton, Libertarian, and, not stating a party preference, Matthew Heines, Robert Dean Mair and Justin Smoak.

Fortieth District State Sen. Liz Lovette (D-Anacortes) will face Republican Charles Carrell in November.

LD 40 Position 1 Rep. Debra Lekanoff is unopposed.

Legislative District 10 candidate hometowns and totals in contributions and loans to date:

Position 1: Gilday, Stanwood, $40,382; Homola, Oak Harbor, $32,224; Lewis, Greenbank, $14,404; McMullen, $8,013; and Woodard, Clinton, $24,537. Position 2: Bruch, $43,584; Paul, $72,608; Zimmeman. Senate: Muzzall, $71,096; Price-Johnson, $140,951.

Legislative District 10 covers southwest Skagit County, northwest Snohomish County and all of Island County.

Voting starts July 17. The order that candidates appear on the ballot are determined by lot draw. Offices with three or more candidates will appear on the August primary. All other candidates will go straight to the November election.

The top two vote getters in each contest compete in the general election.

Unopposed candidates will be elected in November once they vote for themselves.

For information on all candidates: VoteWA.gov.

Candidates Bruch’s and Paul’s campaign donations

Ken Stern

La Conner’s Bill Bruch, candidate for the Legislative District 10 Position 2 state house seat has pushed back against a fundraising appeal by Rep. Dave Paul (D-Oak Harbor), the incumbent. A Bruch campaign news release labels “deceptive” Paul’s May 23 fundraising email stating “The latest Public Disclosure Commission reports show that my opponent’s campaign is now being funded by out-of-state, deep-pocket donors.”

The Bruch campaign response: “In truth, more than 95 percent of Bruch’s campaign money has come from local donors seeking grass roots change in Olympia. The $2,000 in donations to Bruch that Paul is alluding to came from an active Republican donor who lives in LD 10 and who owns businesses in other states.”

The Bruch campaign’s research finds “The Washington State Public Disclosure records also show that Dave Paul has taken ten times that amount from special interests – about $20,000 from unions and tribes. That represents almost a third of his entire campaign war chest.

Paul does have over $20,000, and 30% of his donations $200 and up, from political organizations, primarily in $1,000 amounts.

Through April 30, Paul has raised $68,599 to Bruch’s $43,584. However, Bruch has more total donors and more donations over $1,000.

“If you add in thousands more he has collected from environmental activists and various social justice warriors, you get a pretty clear picture who owns Dave Paul,” stated Bruch Campaign Manager, Sandy Stokes. “One thing is clear: he is not working for the average taxpayers in our district.”

Over 25% of Bruch’s total is from the county and state Republican Party. Bruch has the only out-of-state contributions: two $1,000 donations from California companies led by William Doddridge. Doddridge and his wife have given another $2,000 as individuals. They have an Anacortes address. It is not known if the Doddridges have made additional contributions through the county or state Republican Party.

Doddridge is the CEO of the Jewelry Exchange, one of the country’s largest jewelry companies. Politico called him a major GOP donor in a 2016 article about his starting a pro-Trump super-PAC.

Legislative District 10 covers southwest Skagit County, northwest Snohomish County and Island County.