BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The Whatcom County Council will convene a special meeting to select an appointee to be sworn in to represent the 42nd legislative district in the Washington State Legislature.
Senator Doug Ericksen’s unexpected death created a vacancy in the State Senate seat for the 42nd district. The process to fill the vacancy is for local party representatives to propose 3 nominees and for the Whatcom County Council to appoint 1 in time to be sworn in when the 2022 legislative session begins on January 10th.
The Whatcom County Republican Party Central Committee announced their nominees are as follows.
- Current Whatcom County Council Member Ben Elenbaas of Custer
- Former Bellingham Police Department Sergeant Tawsha Dykstra Thompson of Bellingham
- Simon Sefzik of Ferndale
A special virtual online meeting of the Whatcom County Council is scheduled for January 4th at 1pm with the sole purpose of selecting an appointee to the vacant 42nd Legislative District Senate position.
Click for more information
Click for more informationThe 42nd district includes all of Whatcom County except for southern Bellingham and areas around Lake Whatcom and Lake Samish.
In the event the County Council is unable to agree on an appointment within 60 days, the responsibility will be passed to the Governor who will be tasked to select an appointee within 30 days from the 42nd district who is a member of the Republican Party, as was Ericksen.
The appointee will hold the office until a successor can be elected during the next general election.