— from David Turnoy, Chair, SJC Democrats —
Today [Saturday Feb. 2, 2019] nine of your San Juan County PCOs (precinct committee officers) traveled to Bellingham to participate in the selection of three nominees to submit to the county councils of San Juan, Skagit, and Whatcom. The three names placed in nomination were Kris Lytton, Liz Lovelett, and Trevor Smith.
If you want to make your preference known, this is your opportunity to contact our county councilors [before Tuesday, Feb. 5]
The state Democratic Party chair, backed up by the state parliamentarian, ruled that sitting county councilors were not eligible to be considered, therefore the names of Jamie Stephens and Rud Browne were not allowed to be placed in nomination.
Liz Lovelett led off the speech-making; she has been a city councilor in Anacortes for six years, and she gave a very good speech. She is very highly regarded by many people in Skagit County. Kris Lytton followed and also gave a terrific speech. Part of her time was used by Alex Ramel, former candidate for the position won by Debra Lekanoff, to introduce Kris and point out the reasons he is supporting Kris. Kris was our state representative for eight years, only just retiring at the end of last year. The final candidate placed in nomination was Trevor Smith, a member of the labor council, whose speech was given by Janet McKinney, vice chair of the 40th LD, as Trevor was not present. It was stated that Trevor would support the first place nominee to become the next senator.
The first ballot saw Kris Lytton receive 29 PCO votes, while Liz Lovelett received 16 and Trevor Smith received one. The second ballot between Liz and Trevor resulted in Liz getting 37 votes and Trevor 7. So the ranking will be Kris Lytton, Liz Lovelett, and Trevor Smith.
If you have a preference, you would want to communicate that to our three county councilors ASAP. They will be meeting Tuesday afternoon in Mt. Vernon along with the county councilors from Skagit and Whatcom to make their selection. Each of the candidates will be interviewed, and the councilors meeting will be open to the public. To contact our county councilors, here are their email addresses:
Rich Hughes – rickh@sanjuanco.com
Jamie Stephens – jamies@sanjuanco.com
Bill Watson – billw@sanjuanco.com
Thank you for reading, and as I said, if you want to make your preference known, this is your opportunity to contact our county councilors.
Thanks so much for this update, David!