Wilke says she’s not running, for now

Former GOP candidate for Olympic Peninsula seat in Washington House

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At this time, I am not running for anything. I am a private citizen. I have not decided about next year. It’s a big decision, and I think it took 10 years off my life!
– Jodi Wilke, one-time GOP candidate for legislative district 24
While Jodi Wilke is registered with the Public Disclosure Commission as a candidate for state representative in the 2020 general election, she says she had no intentions of running, and chalked the state filing up to a misinterpreted clerical move. “It is simple to explain, actually,” Wilke said in an email Aug. 16. “The PDC (Public Disclosure Commission) requires the decision to be made by February, as to whether a campaign will close out its PDC account, or keep it open. I decided last February to keep it open, and at that time, I was thinking favorably about running, but keeping it open does not necessarily mean you will run, only that your account with the PDC is not closed.” Wilke, a Port Hadlock resident who currently serves as co-leader of “Save Our Sequim” had previously succeeded at the ballot as one of the leaders of the “No on Prop. 1” initiative for Jefferson County in 2017. Wilke was less successful in her campaign to unseat incumbent Democrat Mike Chapman when she challenged him for his seat in the state House of Representatives in the 24th District in 2018. District 24 encompasses most of the Olympic Peninsula, including all of Clallam and Jefferson counties and much of Grays Harbor County. “If I decided to run in the future, it would be easier not to have to start everything up from scratch,” Wilke said, noting that the decision to run, or not run, needs to be made before the filing week in May of the given election year. “ At this time, I am not running for anything. I am a private citizen. I have not decided about next year. It’s a big decision, and I think it took 10 years off my life!” The Leader made efforts to contact Jon Cooke and Lynn Hisey of the Jefferson County Republican Party to learn how they’ll fill her spot on the ballot, but did not hear back from them as of press time.