There’s been a lot of tumult among Democrats in the 10th Legislative District and it’s getting more tumultuous by the day.
Two Democrats, Ann McDonald and Patricia Terry, are vying to unseat Republican Rep. Barbara Bailey.
A couple weeks back the legislative district executive board rebelled against state party rules by deciding to not hold a nominating convention this month as required. Instead, they planned to wait until at least mid-June.
Then a week ago board members reversed course and scheduled a convention next week at which they will choose McDonald or Terry as the party nominee heading into the August primary.
Today McDonald declared she would not participate.
“I don’t need a group of three dozen party leaders to reaffirm my credentials as a Democrat,” she said in a press release.
Clear and concise – unlike much of the rest of the document.
See if you can read the opening sentence in one breath.
GREENBANK—Ann McDonald, a longtime Democratic Party leader and candidate for the State Legislature from the 10th District, which includes Island County, the northwest part of Snohomish County and the southwest part of Skagit County, has announced that she will not participate in the so-called “nominating convention”, stating her support for making the process open to all 10th LD voters and a personal belief that the non-binding vote among party leaders violates the spirit of the recent Supreme Court ruling on I-932, which established a new “Top Two” primary system.
When she says I-932, I’m pretty sure she means I-872. Let’s continue.
The recent complicated and confusing Supreme Court decision which upheld I-932 led to both the Republican and Democratic Parties establishing an equally complicated yet largely symbolic nominating and endorsement process.
McDonald, while sensitive to the desire of party leaders to make sure that partisan voters have a role in determining the party standard bearer in an election, believes that the large numbers of Democrats and Democratic leaning independents in the district are a better barometer of support and viability than a non-binding tally of twenty or thirty local appointed Party members.
Voting is set for May 22.
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