The Long Run: Primary Preview

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State Senate candidate Marcia Kelbon, left, chats with Jefferson County District 1 candidate Heather Dudley-Nollette at a recent forum.  [/caption]

Election news and commentary by Charlie Bermant

The Washington State Primary, where all races are narrowed down to the top two prevailing candidates regardless of party, is just four weeks away. Ballots will be mailed to voters on Wednesday, July 17. The primary will determine who will appear on the November 5 general election ballot.

While there are several local and statewide races with primary contests, significant local positions are already decided. State Senate candidates Mike Chapman, a Democrat, and Republican Marcia Kelbon will face each other in the fall, while Jefferson County District 1 hopefuls Heather Dudley-Nollette and Ben Thomas are due for a match-up.

All of these candidates appeared at a July 2 Candidate Forum hosted by the Port Townsend Rotary Club.

There is another candidate for State Senate, Port Angeles resident James Russell, who filed as a Democrat. He hasn’t campaigned, has no listed contact information, and ignored the invitation to participate in the Rotary forum. There are a few of these inconsequential candidates in various races this year who can’t be reached to answer why they are bothering in the first place.)

Both partisan races appear on the primary ballot, even if the outcome is assured. In this respect, the primary becomes a beauty contest, which many voters will sit out. But it makes sense to vote for your preferred candidate, as it provides a reading on where the races stand so far. And while presidential polls vary wildly with regard to the pollster and who answers the phone, the primary is a certified government-sanctioned poll.

I’ve not attended every forum, but have not heard a discouraging word. All of the candidates are respectful toward their opponents, even when they are of opposing parties. Chapman and Kelbon, especially, offer a demonstration of campaign courtesy.

Some highlights from the Rotary:

“I believe we need to reduce the cost of living here so that young people can actually build prosperous lives here and so that we don't have retirees at risk of losing their homes,” Kelbon said. “That includes some taxes that I believe are not doing what they're intended to do but are raising our cost of fuel, groceries, utilities, and such. I believe it's providing true living wage jobs, which we need some industry for that. Some light manufacturing that sort of thing, and it's housing which is a critical issue and if we can amend the Growth Management Act and reduce regulation, it'll lower the cost and provide more opportunities of that here.”

Chapman unabashedly expressed his support for roundabouts.

“I don't want to live here and have it look like downtown Seattle with flyover highways everywhere,” he said. “The roundabouts work. They're cost-efficient. They're slowing traffic down. And quite frankly, you look at the work that they just did on the highway, they already have half of it done. So, I get a lot of criticism for my support of roundabouts. I'm the roundabout guy. I serve on the transportation committee. I am working my behind off to get more funded and I get a lot of criticism for it. So be it if you want. First of all, where would the money come from? I think roundabouts really are working and I think they enhance our environment. They enhance our transportation system.”

A number of forums are still scheduled prior to the primary, as outlined in a past Long Run. Newly added is a three-and-a-half hour forum scheduled for 4 pm July 10 at the Maritime Center. The event is sponsored by the Jefferson County Association of Realtors. Here, all of the declared legislative candidates are scheduled to appear, along with Chapman and Kelbon. The elusive Mr. Russell has again declined to participate.

Bonus Debate Question

The Long Run generally focuses on local politics, but this year’s fractious presidential campaign makes us wonder how this trickles down to the local level. Here in Jefferson County that concern centers around the fear of a second Trump presidency. And since both candidates for the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners are Democrats, asking a slanted question about this potential situation is appropriate.

I asked Ben Thomas and Heather Dudley-Nollette to email some thoughts about the impact of another Trump term. Both sent lengthy answers, expressing concerns that their remarks would be edited or taken out of context. Here, then, are their statements in full:

Ben Thomas

First, we build resilience in our own community. We build strength through all forms of diversity. We refuse to live in fear.

It's hard to say how proposed federal policies might affect us in Jefferson County. In reading through the Heritage Foundation's "Project 2025" it appears that more laws protecting rights would revert to whatever state protections are in place, in which case Washington state – and Jefferson County in particular – is well-buttressed. With reproductive choice, I think abortion funding and the legality of the "abortion pill" might be the impacts we see most.

In a new administration, deportations might be a greater threat to our undocumented residents. However, people may feel about how they got here, they are members of our community and deserve our protection. Our Sheriffs already operate under a policy to not consider lack of documentation a crime or to report people to I.C.E. The County – and the community at large – can work with JCIRA (Jefferson County Immigrant Rights Advocates) and The Northwest Justice Project to explore all options to keep families together.

The relevant policies regarding climate don't appear designed to affect a county like ours too directly (outside potential long term ramifications of climate change). The most direct impact might be fewer grant dollars for projects like stream restoration and maintenance of public lands.

If the Department of Education were dismantled, it would have many downstream effects that I couldn't predict. If we're doing our best as a community, we might be able to at least minimize the impact on our children. Once again, I believe our county will see less ramifications than other counties.

Something that might be exacerbated by a Trump administration, but that might also be inevitable based on larger economic trends, is a reduction in grant funding for things like public transportation, infrastructure, and housing subsidies. I would suggest that we need to be prepared with contingencies for this no matter who is president. Ensuring our local solutions be less reliant on large outside grants that flow with the whims of Congress is just wise governance.

Come what may, the best thing we can do is weave a stronger local fabric that will be resilient to the winds from the other Washington. This starts by building stronger neighborhoods and being willing to work with people who vote differently than ourselves.

Heather Dudley-Nollette

It can sometimes seem easy, in this place of unmatched beauty and strong community, to feel insulated from any impact that a tyrannical national leader could directly wreak on our lives. Unfortunately, we live in a time when we must be diligent about protecting the progress we’ve made as a society toward more civil liberties, including reproductive freedoms and equitable treatment for all – regardless of whatever might make us different than those who seek to wield power and control. Although it may feel like there isn’t much we can directly do in little ol’ Jefferson County, I believe it will become exponentially more important for us to come together to protect those individuals and groups who may be targeted by Trump’s expressed intentions if he were to gain office.

Right here at home, we can support our citizens’ rights to peacefully protest; and support our local immigrant, LGBTQIA+, and BIPOC advocacy organizations like JCIRA Multicultural Center, Olympic Pride, and Well-Organized. We can provide resources for Jefferson County citizens experiencing homelessness and other co-occurring effects of trauma, loss, poverty, mental illness, and abuse. We can strengthen our support for our brave elections staff who work tirelessly to ensure the integrity of our fair local elections system. And we can work together as candidates running for local office or as elected officials within our various local government entities to lead with dignity and respect for the varying opinions that we and each of our local citizens bring to the table.

We must continue to lobby our state and federal legislators to represent the needs of rural communities and to vote for policies that strengthen rather than degrade civil liberties. This will become even more important if we have a federal government that is actively working to tear those things apart. For now, the people still have a voice and we should use it.

Perhaps the most important thing we can each do is to actually hear and consider why our beloved friends, neighbors, and family members may have voted for someone different than we did. We can stay focused on the issues, not the personalities – and on the collective solutions that we could find together if we were willing to listen to each other’s ideas. Although we may believe different things than our neighbors, we often want the same or similar things. We want to live in a community that holds us as treasured members. Whoever you vote for, may you always feel safe, validated, and respected - whatever may come.

All photos by Charlie Bermant