At the June 20 meeting of the San Juan County Democrats, the local Democrats endorsed candidates for office in the primary election for which you will receive your ballot in a few days. This followed a several-week process during which our endorsement committee composed questionnaires for candidates and sent them out, received detailed answers from the candidates, then analyzed the answers and came to decisions on which candidates to support. The endorsement committee presented its report to the members present at our general meeting, discussions were had, then the vote was taken. Here is who we will be supporting in the upcoming primary election.

Governor Inslee has been a solid governor during his two terms, a strong leader in taking safety precautions during the pandemic, and we see no reason to change leadership at this point. Attorney General Ferguson has been an incredible leader in winning case after case against the Trump Administration to try to rein in the worst excesses of the latter. Marko Liias has been a good leader in the Washington legislature, and his policies align more closely with our progressive platform, therefore we support him for lieutenant governor. Gael Tarleton has had a multifaceted career in federal and state government, and we are excited to support her for secretary of state. We are supporting incumbents Franz (Public Lands), Kreidler (Insurance), and Reykdal (Public Instruction) in their races for re-election.

For the 2nd Congressional seat, Rick Larsen is a 20-year incumbent who has been good on social issues, and he has shown leadership during the pandemic. However, as mentioned before, we have a very progressive platform, and we support universal healthcare, a Green New Deal, and reducing our military footprint and overseas involvement. Challenger Jason Call is right there with us in his policy positions. Rick has the experience, Jason has the progressive positions. Therefore we chose to go with a dual endorsement and encourage the voters to vote their preference.

For county council, we are proud to endorse two of our own officers. Cindy Wolf is vice-chair of the county Democrats, one of our precinct committee officers, and one of the founders of the Orcas Women’s Coalition, and we are pleased to endorse her for the Orcas council position. Ryan Palmeteer is secretary of the county Democrats, president of the electric vehicle association, a strong environmentalist and advocate for fighting climate change, and we are pleased to endorse him for the San Juan Island council position.

Expect your ballot soon, and be sure to vote.

David Turnoy

Orcas Island