2011 Election Preview

Riley Sweeney is Communications Chair of the Whatcom Democrats and works as a campaign manager for local candidates. A 2008 graduate of Western Washington University with a degree in Communication, Riley is originally from Olympia where he got his feet wet in politics. Read his blog: sweeneyblog.wordpress.com

After the tsunami of federal races in 2010, the spotlight for the next set of ballots to arrive will be solely on local issues. In 2011, voters in Whatcom County will elect several mayors, half of the city councils, half of the county council, a few school board members and a handful of other county official positions. Amid the elections, shifting demographics and voting populations will require a readjustment of the election boundaries this year.

Let’s start with Bellingham, where the big ticket race will be the mayoral contest. Mayor Dan Pike is running for re-election and City Councilman Barry Buchanan (Ward 3) has declared that he is challenging Pike for the seat, leaving the seat in the 3rd Ward an open race. Jack Weiss (Ward 1), Terry Bornemann (Ward 5) and Seth Fleetwood (At-Large) are all up for re-election.

Hot topics are clean-up at Lake Whatcom, the city budget, how the transportation levy funds should be spent and the traffic safety cameras that will arrive in spring in the city of Bellingham.

On a wider scope, county voters will have an opportunity to vote for an entire set of representatives. First, County Executive Pete Kremen is up for re-election and has yet to make a formal announcement. Whatcom County Council, which has swung considerably to the right in the last two years, has three seats up for re-election. Council president Sam Crawford (District 2), Barbara Brenner (District 3) and Tony Larson (District 1) all have terms that end in January 2012.

The defining (and longstanding) issue for the county is the ongoing battle between developers trying to remove any regulation or restrictions on where they build, and environmentalists trying to get the county to comply with the growth management act – a law that states Whatcom County must have a plan and standards for how to grow. Currently, the county is breaking the law by refusing to set standards on how much sprawl is allowed, which makes Whatcom ineligible for a great deal of state and federal grant funds.

One of the three Port of Belling-ham commissioners is up for re-election in 2011. Jim Jorgensen (District 3) has announced that he will seek office again. Main issues for the Port are the continually-evolving plans for the aging Georgia-Pacific plant and the environmental clean-up associated with it.

Voters will go to the polls for other county offices including sheriff, auditor, assessor and treasurer. Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo will be challenged by Steve Harris, president of the deputy’s guild and Tea Party darling. The defining issue in this race will be the plans for a new jail and how the department handles budget cuts.

For the smaller towns in the county, half of the city council for Blaine, Ferndale, Lynden, Sumas, Nooksack and Everson will be up for re-election. The mayoral race in Ferndale where Gary Jensen is seeking re-election is one of the bigger races. Topics for candidates will be the rapid development of the Guide-Meridian, the Cherry Point development, the deep budget cuts and the ongoing discussions over sprawl.

Half of the school boards at all levels will be up for re-election, as well as a handful of minor tax districts.

The drastic shifts in electoral opinion in Whatcom County during the last four years is due, in part, to a solid change in voter population. According to the most recent figures from the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office, there are 116,581 registered voters in Whatcom County. In the previous election, 86,993 citizens cast their ballots in Whatcom County – a turnout of 74.62 percent. Whatcom County typically votes at a higher rate than the state average, which was 71.24 percent for 2010, according to the Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed’s office.

Historically, the City of Bellingham tends to vote Democratic; however, there is a spiking population in the county of Republican-minded voters. Lynden, a conservative bastion, has experienced a voter registration boom in the last four years, and has tipped the balance of power, electing five Republicans to the non-partisan positions of County Council, leaving two democrats remaining. (See accompanying graph).

This year, the state is set to redraw the borders for its electoral boundaries to incorporate the new data gleaned from the 2010 census. Among the changes is the creation of a 10th congressional seat, most likely situated in Thurston County, which includes Lacy, Olympia and Tumwater. This redrawing will cause little change to the Whatcom region congressional district, but does increase Washington’s influence on the federal level. An extra congressperson from our state means another voice at the table pushing for more federal resources to be directed to our communities.

The boundaries for the state legislature are also getting redrawn. Because of a population boom to the south of Whatcom County, it is expected that the 40th legislative district may inch north, sweeping up more of Bellingham’s voters and putting the 42nd more solidly in Republican hands. §