EVERETT — Who do Republican leaders in Snohomish and Island counties want for president?
It’s unclear.
The 2024 presidential election is shaping up to look like a rematch of 2020 between current President Joe Biden and then-President Donald Trump.
Despite the seemingly inevitable rematch, some Democrats and Republicans are looking to other options as Washington’s presidential primary looms in the coming weeks.
Still, for the Snohomish County Republican Party, Trump is the choice, chairman Bill Cooper said. In the party’s January caucus, Trump received 257 votes, or 71%, of the party’s vote.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis got 50 votes, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley garnered 42 and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy snagged a dozen.
The Daily Herald contacted the seven Republican legislators representing parts of Snohomish County about who they wanted for president. Five did not respond. Others did not give a direct answer.
“I’m pretty good about staying in my lane,” state Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor, wrote in an email.
Muzzall said he isn’t interested in influencing other people’s choices in national elections and did not say who he is supporting in the primary.
State Sen. Brad Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee, gave his prediction, rather than an endorsement.
“I believe former President Trump will become the Republican nominee,” wrote Hawkins, whose district stretches from Chelan to Monroe, in an email.
Amid an ongoing legislative session, Hawkins said he has been too busy to pay much attention to the presidential primary.
Other local elected officials also dodged the question.
Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine previously served in the state House of Representatives as a Republican.
In a 2017 race for Mukilteo City Council, he endorsed businessman Peter Zieve, an outspoken conservative who gave $1 million to Trump’s first presidential campaign.
But since the mayor is a nonpartisan position, Marine declined to answer the question.
“I take that nonpartisan position seriously and would not discuss my voting choices publicly,” he wrote.
On the ballot, Republicans have the options of Trump, Haley, DeSantis, Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, though only Trump and Haley are actively running campaigns.
Democrats can choose between Biden, former U.S. Representative Dean Phillips, author Marianne Williamson and “uncommitted delegates.”
Rep. Mary Fosse, D-Everett, thinks Biden has prioritized working families in his term. She serves as the vice chair of the House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee.
“Biden has been a huge advocate for labor,” Fosse said Friday. “That has gone underadvertised in my opinion.”
Meanwhile, a contingent of Democrats have pushed for “uncommitted delegates,” rather than a real candidate.
The state’s Democratic party requested the option be on the ballot. Voting uncommitted allows undecided state delegates to decide their vote for themselves at the Democratic National Convention in August, while a vote for a candidate directs delegates to vote for that person.
On Wednesday, the state’s largest labor union, United Food and Commercial Workers 3000, representing 50,000 workers statewide, endorsed the “uncommitted delegates” choice over Biden.
“The hope is that this will strengthen the Democratic party’s ultimate nominee to defeat Trump in the General Election in November,” the union said in a statement.
The choice aims to show the Democratic Party that its voters want policy changes within the current administration. The union said that Biden “must do more to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”
The Israeli military has fought a devastating bombardment of Gaza since a Hamas attack killed hundreds in Israel last year. Since October, more than 30,000 Palestinians have died amid the war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
“Biden must push for a lasting ceasefire and ending U.S. funding toward this reckless war,” the union’s statement said.
In Michigan’s primary Wednesday, more than 100,000 voters cast their ballots for “uncommitted delegates.”
In 2020, 70.5% of voters in Snohomish County voted Democrat in the primary. The majority of voters chose Trump and Biden in their respective parties, though Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders trailed Biden by fewer than 5,000 votes.
Ballots for the presidential primary are due March 12.
Jenelle Baumbach: 360-352-8623; jenelle.baumbach@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @jenelleclar.
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