Democrats ready for contested election

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Supporters of former presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders are endorsing a slate of candidates to lead the Jefferson County Democrats at a reorganization meeting on Sunday in Chimacum.

Linda Callahan, 60, of Brinnon is CEO of a law firm with offices in Seattle, Tacoma and Shelton. She is challenging incumbent party chair Bruce Cowan, 63, of Port Townsend, a retired teacher, to lead the Jefferson County Democrats.

Callahan is being endorsed by the Jefferson County Progressives, a group that organized to support Sanders in his unsuccessful effort to gain the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

Both Democrats and Republicans reorganize their local leadership every two years by electing an executive board. Democrats are set to reorganize at 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 4, following a noon potluck at the Chimacum High School commons, 91 W. Valley Road.

Precinct committee officers, who were elected in August, vote to decide the executive board's chair, vice chair, and state committeewoman and state committeeman positions. Other seats, including recording secretary, treasurer and district representatives, are elected by dues-paid party members.

PROGRESSIVES

Matt Sircely, a former chair of the Jefferson County Democrats who now is active with the Jefferson County Progressives, said the Progressives have recommended a slate of candidates that includes Callahan for chair, Raul Huerta for vice chair, Linda Sutton for state committeewoman and Ryan Mc Allister for state committeeman.

“The Jefferson County Progressives have coalesced behind and endorsed the goals of Our Revolution,” Sircely wrote. "Our Revolution" is an offshoot of Sanders' campaign.

Sircely noted that the Progressives brought Larry Cohen to speak in Port Townsend; Cohen now chairs Our Revolution.

“There is currently a national phenomenon of people stepping forward to engage in the Democratic Party. While we do not compare the actions of our local party to the missteps at the DNC [Democratic National Convention], it is nonetheless true that by joining Our Revolution we have become part of a national movement,” Sircely wrote.

Candidates who have been endorsed by the group have pledged to adhere to a number of principles of the Progressives, including fostering bottom-up grassroots activity and standing in solidarity with working-class people and their unions, to mention two of the principles.

"Everyone's calculus changed after the federal election results came in," Sircely told the Leader, and there are a lot of thoughts on how the Democratic Party as a whole must adapt, local party elections included.

"There is a desire to let democracy play itself out, and see what nominations come from the floor," he said of the Dec. 4 vote.

COWAN'S TAKE

Cowan said Monday that he was surprised at being challenged for the seat he's held for the past two years. He took the job after a tough campaign in 2014, in which a candidate for sheriff, Wendy Davis, who had been endorsed by Democrats, lost to Dave Stanko, who had not been endorsed by the party. Stanko, who has indicated he intends to seek re-election, became an independent after the election in 2014.

Cowan said he has strived to be an effective and approachable leader over the past few years. He noted that local Democrat candidates for office since he's been at the helm have won by large margins.

“I was neutral in the primary. I thought it was important for the chair to be neutral,” Cowan said. “I think the job of chair of the Jefferson County Democrats is that they have political opinions, but that they are the least important of anyone in the organization because that person has to even-handedly and without bias find out what the collective will of the members is.”

Cowan said he could not recall the last time the party's chair was a contested office.

After the caucuses in March and after the county convention in June, there were a lot of people interested in getting involved in politics at the local level, Cowan said.

“I worked hard not to pay attention to who was in favor of Sanders or Hillary,” he said, noting he appointed both Sanders and Clinton supporters to positions.

In his statement on the party website, Cowan said, “Throughout the primary, I came to many meetings of supporters of both Sanders and Clinton, and pointed out that they had almost everything in common. People got tired of hearing me preach about civility and unity, but isn't it time to put the divisions of the primary behind us and start working together as Democrats?

“Except for the presidency, our local party had spectacular results. Our board is a high-functioning team. There are vacant seats, and we need new folks, but we also need continuity,” Cowan said.

“Now that the election is over, we want to turn to our work on issues. We will also need to protect the gains we've made since the 1930s in civil rights, Social Security and health care. And the 2018 election is on the horizon, and we'll be elected a half a dozen county offices, the Legislature and to Congress.”

CALLAHAN'S INTEREST

Callahan, 60, said she is a 15-year resident of Jefferson County. She said she contacted the Democratic Party years ago and asked to get involved, but there was no follow-through. She focused her efforts on establishing a law firm and now, she said, it runs itself and she works mostly from her home.

Callahan said she has been following Sanders for years and got involved in his campaign, driving the back roads of Brinnon, going door to door – having a few close encounters with dogs along the way – in an effort to get people out to vote.

At the county convention, she said, there was a sense that supporters for Sanders and those supporting Hillary Clinton were “in different spheres” and that there were communication issues.

“What we found is that we were so in our circle that we weren't communicating. I helped to be a bridge for that at the county convention,” she said. “After the convention, Bruce Cowan thanked me and gave me credit for helping to make that convention run smoothly."

Callahan agreed with Cowan that he did not take a position for either presidential candidate.

“I agree that Bruce did try to be neutral and for the most part, he was. I believe in complete neutrality. I don't think the party should pick among candidates,” she said.

More specifically, Callahan said she thinks the national Republican Party had the right idea by allowing candidates to duke it out and “whoever is the last person standing is our candidate.”

In essence, she said, the Republicans operated from the bottom up, while the Democrats orchestrated from the top down and did not allow the “will of the people” to pick the presidential candidate.

Callahan said she does not see the slate of candidates being offered to run the local Democratic Party as a party takeover.

“We have endorsed members of the board who are already there,” she said, noting that Jefferson County Progressives have endorsed John Hamilton for recording secretary as well as Ron Hayes for treasurer.

“We're hoping to keep the people who have been involved all these years and dedicated all their time and finances. We don't want to lose all those people, but we do want to bring in a new influx of people who are mostly concerned about the election of Donald Trump,” Callahan said.