We will be receiving our ballots this week. Here are the candidates that I believe will do the most to benefit the environment in Jefferson County and the Olympic Peninsula. Check back for updates in the next week. This should get you started.
- Senator, State of Washington – Patty Murray.
- Senator Murray continues to do a superb job of being the senior Senator in the state. Her work on VA funding, and numerous environmental bill support allows her to easily gain our vote.
- Governor – Jay Inslee
- Jay is the most devoted environmental governor we have ever had. He is leading the state forward in many key areas, such as Ocean Acidification, Global Warming issues, coal and oil train issues, and many others. He’s on the correct side of almost all environmental issues. Maybe not always as far as we’d like, but he does have to work with the State House and Senate to get things done, along with convincing the public of the correct course.
- 6th Congressional District – Derek Kilmer
- Representative Kilmer has done a solid job of promoting environmental issues in his first term. He has proven his ability to fight for climate change and other important issues, though on thorny issues closer to home such as the Whidbey Island Naval Base jet expansion, and the Electronic Warfare Range on the west end of the Peninsula, he has been too lukewarm about digging in and representing citizen concern over the military. There are serious environment issues that the expansion of the base and it’s operations raises, including whether it is even appropriate to continue to use this base as a staging location given the growth of the population around it since it was originally put in place. Remember that over tens of thousands of signatures were collected protesting this issue, yet Derek has not responded other than a small token effort. Derek’s middle of the road position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a difficult policy decision for him. We live in the State of Boeing and Microsoft, two companies that benefit from more free trade, creating tens of thousands of jobs, and much wealth for our State. Since the TPP is not yet complete, (though leaked copies have enflamed Democrats and Republicans like Trump alike) it’s understandable that Kilmer would want to wait and see how the final wording lands. However, given other issues that he has worked on, and the lack of background in environmental issues from his opponents, we suggest to re-elect him. We’re hoping that he will become more focused on correcting TPP (it’s unlikely he would work to defeat it), seriously questioning the Navy’s expansion plans, and listening to his constituents to a greater degree. Any Republican elected will likely support TPP and the military wholeheartedly.
- State Senator District 24 – Kevin Van De Wege
- Kevin’s long time support of environmental protection is quite impressive. He came around on eliminating fire retardants in products in the State, being willing to listen to facts and change his opinion by thinking through the issues. Very rare in a politician these days. He now is the champion in the State House for banning fire retardants. Vote him into the Senate!
- State Representative District 24 – Mike Chapman
- Mike Chapman has been doing heavy lifting in the highly contentious world of Clallam County politics. He has sided with environmental protection and convinced his constituents that he has their backs. Vote in Mike.
- Jefferson County District 1 – Kate Dean
- Kate has been a seriously committed community activist, both in our leading edge small farm community and in environmental issues. We highly recommend Kate to join our county commissioners. She is vying to replace long time commissioner and environmental supporter, Phil Johnson, who is retiring. We will miss Phil’s great intense devotion to wild salmon and fighting net pens in our county.
- Jefferson County District 2 – David Sullivan
- David is uncontested, but could face a write in candidate if one appeared. Vote for him anyway, to ensure his re-election. He has done a good job of supporting citizen needs in health care, and supports environmental efforts when they arise. He comes from a health care background, so he knows those issues well.
- State Commissioner of Public Lands
- This is a hard decision at this moment, either Hilary Franz or Dave Upthegrove are excellent candidates. Upthegrove has been on the correct side of many important environmental issues in the past, including the Maury Island gravel pit. He has been a long time State House member, and has the support of numerous key environmental organizations. Hilary has been an environmental lawyer working at Futurewise, an NGO. She also has numerous significant endorsements. Both candidates are worth voting for. But I believe that Dave Upthegrove is likely to make a better head of a major bureaucracy.
- PCOs of Jefferson County. These are the contested races. Some of these are not about environmental issues. I’ve noted the ones that are. Some of the people I know personally and can support their being voted into PCO roles. (more to be updated soon)
- 102 – Al Scalf – longtime environmental issue supporter.
- 104 – Marty Gilmore
- 106 – Claire Roney
- 303 – Heidi Eisenhour – Longtime supporter of land conservation work.
- 501 – Adele Govert
- 702 – Gary Engbrecht
- 703 – Gary Larson
- 706 – Dan Erlenborn
- 708 – Rick Doherty – Medical professional with clear understanding of the issues.
- 709 – Pat Vaughn