I received a campaign mailing from Erv Hoglund claiming, “On January 20 of this year, 21 political bosses met to decide who would represent us in the state House of Representatives.” This is not what happened.
Following the requirements of the Washington state Constitution, Article II, Section 15, all 121 then-current precinct committee officers of the Snohomish County Democratic Central Committee were called to a special meeting on Friday, Jan. 19. Everyone present, including the PCOs from the entire county, listened to speeches and questioning of people seeking the nomination. After the speeches and questioning, the then-35 PCOs living in the 38th legislative district held a caucus that recommended the nomination of Jean Berkey, John Martin and Jenny Wieland to the full central committee. After receiving this nomination from the 38th district PCOs, a voice vote was taken by the full central committee to accept the recommendation from the 38th District PCOs.
In the article “Demos trim list for Scott’s seat” (Jan 20), The Herald reported on the events of that evening. (There is an error in the article stating there was a ranking of the nominees. The central committee nomination was by voice vote, making it impossible for me or anyone else to rank the nominees. The letter I wrote to the Snohomish County Council with the nominations reflected this fact. Only the 38th District caucus took a physical ballot.)
It was from this public nomination process that the Snohomish County Council chose Jean Berkey to replace Scott. In no way was this decided upon by “21 political bosses” on Jan. 20. This should make everyone in the 38th Legislative District wonder what else Hoglund does not understand.
If you want a representative in office from a party that supports following state law and constitution, then vote to retain Jean Berkey – one of the nominees of the entire Snohomish County Democratic Central Committee to succeed the late Pat Scott in the state House of Representatives.
Corresponding Secretary
Snohomish County Democratic Central Committee
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