When David Sullivan ran for his seat on the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners, he knocked on nearly 8,500 doors.

Doorbelling — when candidates go door-to-door introducing themselves to constituents and sharing their platform — was his main campaign strategy, something he says helped him win his elections for PUD and county commissioner seats.

“I went down driveways and roads to places I would have never seen,” he said. “I really got to know the county really well in that regard and it has stayed with me.”

There are three candidates vying for Sullivan’s seat on the board, but they won’t be able to reach out to people in the same way he did.

“Our opportunities for any face-to-face personal meetings with constituents are extremely limited,” said candidate Lorna Smith.

Smith was the first to announce her campaign for the District 2 seat — representing Chimacum, Port Hadlock, and Irondale — in February, before the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States.

“Fifty-eight percent of our county’s population is vulnerable,” Smith said. “The CDC, the state and also Dr. Tom Locke, our own health advisor, are saying those folks should be staying home, staying safe, well through Phase 3.”

The coronavirus means doorbelling is off the table as a form of campaigning, as well as other larger events, such as kick-off parties and in-person candidate forums.

“I was geared up and ready to announce my campaign literally the week that the state got shut down,” said candidate Amanda Funaro.

She had been in conversation with Finnriver Farm & Cidery about a mid-April campaign launch party, which did not get to happen.

“It is really hard for me to not be able to get directly in front of people,” Funaro said. “One of my strengths is relatability.”

Heidi Eisenhour, who announced her campaign for commissioner during the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order, echoed Funaro’s sentiments.

“The inability to interact with people one-on-one is very challenging,” she said. “There’s been a lot more time on the phone, a lot more social media.”

All three candidates are getting creative to reach out to people.

This includes hosting Facebook livestreams, Zoom campaign meetings, doing hundreds of phone calls and posting on social media.

Funaro is making her way through the White Pages and calling people she has never met to get outside of her inner circle.

Meanwhile, Smith said she is updating her website regularly and using it as a way for constituents to get in touch with her, as well as hosting online Zoom gatherings.

“There’s no substitute for face-to-face,” she said. “But everyone is in the same situation now. It’s the respectful thing to do to protect our vulnerable population.”

Eisenhour has been reaching out to her network of people to host virtual neighborhood parties as a way to meet new constituents.

“I’ve been asking people to host events to introduce me to their friends and neighbors,” she said. “They’re still Zoom events, but they’re bringing in people who don’t necessarily know me.”

As a nod to the times we live in, a host of seamstresses have been sewing hundreds of “Heidi for Commissioner” face masks.

“It’s fun to have sail makers and artists and a whole bunch of people sewing these masks,” she said. “It’s fun and energizing for the whole team to have a creative outlet.”

But even with the benefits of social media and technology, candidates are feeling the limits of being behind a screen.

“There are these social cues that, as humans, we rely on when we’re interacting with someone,” Funaro said. “I’m not accustomed to talking to a camera or to a computer or to a box.”

She prefers talking over the phone to Zoom meetings. But she’s also trying to find a way to meet face-to-face in a safe way by hosting neighborhood pop-up events.

“I keep envisioning Lucy from the Peanuts with her little booth,” she said. “I want to put up my pop-up tent in neighborhoods and invite people to come talk from a physical distance of 6 feet.”

But Funaro, Smith, and Eisenhour don’t expect the lack of face-to-face campaigning to impact voter turnout this year, especially since Washington has had mail-in voting since 2005.

“Every indication I’ve had is Washington can expect a very high voter turnout,” Smith said.

In 2018, Jefferson County had the third-highest turnout of any county in the state, at 83.12 percent.

“Our county is very involved in our democracy,” Funaro said.

But once one of these three candidates is elected, the job itself might also be different because of the coronavirus.

Right now, all county commissioner meetings happen virtually. Sullivan said he’s missing out on in-person meetings with other officials and constituents about local issues.

“It’s a different type of job right now,” Sullivan said. “For a new candidate at this time, that’s one of their challenges. They’re going to have to show people in this new situation we’re in, how they are reaching out and how people can connect with them.”