Joel Johnson files his petitions to run for Bellingham Mayor on Friday afternoon, May 19, at the Whatcom County Courthouse in Bellingham. Elections staff must count and verify the signatures before Johnson becomes an official candidate.
The Bellingham Herald
As many as five Bellingham residents are challenging Mayor Seth Fleetwood and five candidates are seeking to unseat Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu in the two highest local offices on the Aug. 1 primary election ballot.
Candidate filing week closed at 4:30 p..m. Friday in the off-year elections that include city and countywide races, as well as school boards, fire-protection districts and other local elected positions.
Ballot order was determined in a random drawing after the filing period closed Friday.
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Fleetwood and Sidhu were elected in 2019, and they took office in January 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was starting.
That was the first of several crises that led to a strong alliance between the two leaders on issues such as racial equity, housing and homelessness.
SIdhu also faced rural flooding disasters in January 2020 and November 2021, and Fleetwood coped with rising urban crime and drug addiction, fueled by a sharp rise in homelessness during the pandemic.
Aug. 1 primary
A total of 134 positions are open countywide, not counting local initiatives or tax measures which go on the November ballot.
Whatcom County had 158,450 registered voters on May 15, Auditor Diana Bradrick told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
If only one or two candidates file for a nonpartisan race, there is no primary and the candidates advance automatically to the Nov. 7 general election.
If no candidates file for an office, the filing period is extended for a special three-day window — usually the dates are announced the Tuesday after filing week ends, after the deadline for candidates to withdraw, Bradrick said.
In the event that no one files for a particular office, the incumbent stays in office until the next time that position is on the ballot, she said.
Bellingham mayor
Four, and possibly five, candidates are challenging Mayor Seth Fleetwood, who is finishing his first four-year term for the nonpartisan position.
▪ Kim Lund, former director of the Bellingham Schools Foundation and a member of the Whatcom County Planning Commission.
▪ Joel Johnson, a community and labor organizer who founded ReUse Works, which operated the former Appliance Depot. Johnson took the unusual step of submitting petition signatures instead of paying a filing fee to run for office, Bradrick said. Elections officials were counting and verifying the signatures, so Johnson’s name wasn’t immediately listed among the candidates.
▪ Kristina Michele Martens, the at-large member of the City Council and a key figure in the process to establish the Whatcom County Racial Equity Commission.
▪ Mike McAuley, who served as a Port of Bellingham commissioner form 2010 to 2017 and serves on the Bellingham Planning Commission.
▪ Chris McCoy, CEO of Kombucha Town, which makes fermented tea.
Bellingham Council
There are four open seats on the seven-member City Council — three of the city’s six wards with four-year terms and an at-large position with a two-year term. It’s a nonpartisan position.
▪ Councilwoman Hannah Stone is seeking a second four-year term in Ward 1, which covers the Cordata neighborhood and some of the waterfront, along with parts of Columbia, Birchwood and Meridian. She’s being challenged by Michi Marcher of Cordata, a trans single parent, tenants’ rights organizer and wage-theft activist; and Eamonn Collins of Birchwood, a chemistry and physics teacher at Lummi Nation School who is also the treasurer of Kulshan Community Land Trust and a former staff member of U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.
▪ Councilman Dan Hammill is running for a third straight four-year term in Ward 3, which covers downtown and the Lettered Streets neighborhood, as well as parts of Sehome, Sunnyland, Roosevelt, Puget and Whatcom Falls. He’s facing a challenge from activist Liz Darrow, who is co-chair of the Lettered Streets Neighborhood Association, a legislative advocate for the farmworker-rights group Community to Community Development, and a member of the Bellingham Immigration Advisory Board.
▪ Councilwoman Lisa Anderson is running unopposed for a second four-year term in Ward 5, which covers Western Washington University and parts of South Hill, Sehome, Happy Valley, York and Puget.
▪ Councilwoman Kristina Michele Martens is running for mayor instead of seeking a second term as the council’s at-large representative. Five candidates have filed to replace her: Jace Cotton, a vice chair of Whatcom Democrats and campaign director at Community First Whatcom, who also recently led the effort to get every vote counted to pass the Healthy Children’s Fund; Garrett O’Brien, a builder and owner of Volonta Corp.; Paul Schissler, a consultant in planning and community development and a founder of the Kulshan Community Land Trust; and Russ Whidbee, a financial adviser and a member of the Bellingham Planning Commission; and Maya Morales, a self-employed artist and organizer.
Whatcom County executive
Five candidates are challenging Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu, who is finishing his first four-year term for the nonpartisan position.
▪ County Councilman Barry Buchanan, who is midway through his third four-year term in one of two at-large seats. He said he would resign his council post if he is elected executive.
▪ State Rep. Alicia Rule, D-Blaine, who is serving her second term as one of the 42nd Legislative District’s two House members. Rule said she would resign from the Legislature if she is elected executive.
▪ Dan Purdy, who filed Thursday and didn’t respond to a Bellingham Herald request for biographical information.
▪ Misty Flowers, an “informed consent” advocate known for using County Council meetings to spread false and misleading information about the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccines developed to fight it.
▪ Sukhwant Gill, a former member of the Blaine City Council.
Sidhu, Buchanan, and Rule have run as Democrats or been endorsed by Democratic Party organizations, even though the post is nonpartisan.
Whatcom County Council
There are three open seats on the seven-member County Council — two of the five districts and one of the two at-large positions, all with four-year terms. It’s a nonpartisan position.
▪ County Councilwoman Kathy Kershner is running for re-election in the 4th District, which includes Lynden and rural Whatcom County south to just north of Bellingham. She’s facing a challenge from Mark Stremler and Katherine Orlowski, who both filed Friday.
▪ County Councilman Ben Elenbaas is running for re-election in the 5th District, which includes Blaine, Lummi Nation and Lummi Island, plus Ferndale and the rural area west to the oil refineries and other heavy industry. He’s being challenged by Jackie Dexter, a biologist who works at the Drayton Harbor Oyster Co. and is developing her own aquaculture farm, Holdfast Mariculture.
▪ Councilwoman Carol Frazey isn’t running for a another four-year term in the at-large position B seat. Seeking to replace her are Jon Scanlon, a consultant working with Indigenous communities and conservation organizations regarding climate change and human rights, and board member at RE Sources and the Bellingham Community Development Advisory Board; Atul Deshame, an engineer who serves on the Whatcom County Planning Commission and is a commissioner for Whatcom County Public Utility District 1; Hannah Ordos of Sumas; and Jerry Burns of Maple Falls.
Assessor
▪ Rebecca Xczar is running unopposed for a second four-year term.
Auditor
▪ Chief Deputy Auditor Stacy Henthorn is running to replace Auditor Diana Bradrick, who isn’t seeking re-election after one four-year term. She’s facing a challenge from A. Jay McAffee of Bellingham.
County sheriff
▪ Blaine Police Chief Donnell “Tank” Tanksley and Whatcom County Undersheriff Doug Chadwick are seeking to replace Sheriff Bill Elfo, who isn’t running for a sixth four-year term.
Treasurer
▪ Steve Oliver is unopposed for a fifth consecutive four-year term.
Port of Bellingham
▪ Bobby Briscoe of Blaine is running for a third straight term for Port of Bellingham District 3, which covers the northwest part of Whatcom County, starting west of Lynden and including Lummi Nation and Lummi Island, Ferndale and Blaine. Briscoe, a commercial fisher, has served as president of Puget Sound Crab Fisherman Association.
