OUR SEVEN WINS:
Elected Donnell “Tank” Tanksley Whatcom County Sheriff by a 4% margin. This was our top priority. We flipped the Sheriff’s Office, the last major countywide office that had been under Republican control. It’s also the first non-white Sheriff in Whatcom history. And it will bring reform and better management.
Re-elected Satpal Sidhu County Executive by a wide margin (15%). We first elected Satpal, the first non-white county executive, four years ago by a narrow margin. This time it was a blowout.
Elected Jon Scanlon to County Council At-Large by a wide margin (14%). Jon had previously been Whatcom Democrats Membership Chair, on the Executive Board. He’s a public policy professional with a lot of expertise.
Elected 2nd Vice Chair Jace Cotton to Bellingham City Council At-Large by a 7.6% margin. Jace managed our successful 2021 and 2022 campaigns, and was Campaigns Director for Bellingham Initiatives 1 and 2. Watch carefully. He will bring a fresh breeze to City Hall, working with incoming Mayor Kim Lund.
Passed Bellingham Initiative 1 by a wide margin (17%): Bellingham will have a $1 rise over the state minimum wage ($16.28) bringing it to $17.28 on May 1, then another $1 increase on May 1, 2025. That’s $4,000 more per year for our lowest paid workers.
Passed Bellingham Initiative 2 by a wide margin (24%): This initiative, which failed narrowly two years ago, won big this year. It requires landlords to pay tenants relocation assistance if they raise rent by 8%/year or more.
Passed Bellingham Greenways 5 by a wide margin (two to one).
(We only lost the district-only voting for County Council in District 5 (Coastal))
How did we do it? By achieving the 2nd highest turnout in Washington State, and by far the highest turnout of counties with medium to high population, in large part by doubling Washington State’s average turnout among young adults 18 to 24 years old!
Our staff and volunteers knocked on 22,908 doors, for a combined total of over 55,861 doors with all our candidate campaigns.
We made 14,192 calls and sent 76,980 text messages.
We delivered slate card and social pressure mailers to more than 65,333 voters.
Social media posts that received more than 257,000 views.
Support for the highly successful initiatives to raise Bellingham’s minimum wage and protect renters.
Great job by campaign manager Josh Sanders, who is also State Committee Member for Whatcom Democrats, our Field Organizers, and Deputy Field Organizers.
Our office, doorbelling, phone banking, volunteers.
Our donors who made this all possible.
Thanks to all of you,
Andrew Reding, Campaign Chair and Party Chair, Whatcom County Democrats