Whatcom County Council delays appointing new senator to replace Ericksen. Here’s why
Part of Whatcom County will be without a state senator when the Legislature starts its 2022 session on Monday, Jan. 10.
Whatcom County Council members voted 4-2 at a special meeting Tuesday, Jan. 4, to delay naming a replacement for 42nd District state Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, until their Jan. 11 meeting.
Councilman Ben Elenbaas, one of three candidates for the state Senate vacancy, excused himself from a discussion on the matter Tuesday.
“I’m formally recusing myself from the process,” Elenbaas said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Councilmembers Tyler Byrd and Kathy Kershner opposed waiting to name a replacement immediately for Ericksen, who died Dec. 17 after a five-week battle with COVID-19.
Ericksen represented the 42nd Legislative District that includes northern Bellingham and northern Whatcom County for more than two decades — from 1998-2010 in the state House and from 2010-2021 in the state Senate.
“I think that postponing this and pushing it out to any degree at this point is really a disjustice or an injustice to the people that are in the 42nd that are needing somebody in Olympia to represent them and help them with the flood damage that has taken place this year,” Byrd said.
Whatcom County’s Republican Party chairman criticized the delay, calling it a politically motivated “dereliction of duty” in an emailed statement.
“After a last-minute email blast by a group of special-interest political activists, the four council members, who live in urban areas relatively unaffected by the flood, voted to effectively deprive the victims of the flood-devastated areas of the county of representation at their time of greatest need, many of them still living in tents and trailers,” John Ramsey said.
Although the County Council is a nonpartisan governing body, the four members who voted to delay the selection of a new senator have aligned themselves with the Democratic Party, and the other three council members have been endorsed by Republicans.
Councilmember Rud Browne said he compiled a list of questions that he’d received from 42nd District residents and wanted answers to those questions from the candidates named to replace Ericksen.
Ericksen was a Republican, so under state law, the local GOP organization submitted three candidates for the County Council to consider.
Their names were disclosed Dec. 31:
▪ Ben Elenbass, who represents the council’s 5th District, encompassing western Whatcom County. He works at BP Cherry Point refinery and is a farmer.
▪ Simon Sefzik of Ferndale, a recent graduate of Patrick Henry College, a conservative Christian school in northeast Virginia. He interned in Congress and at the White House in 2020 and 2021.
▪ Tawsha Dykstra Thompson, a former Bellingham Police sergeant. Thompson left the department in December 2021, but didn’t cite a reason for leaving on her resume and didn’t respond to The Bellingham Herald’s question about her reason for leaving.
Under a timeline set Tuesday, the County Council will meet Tuesday morning, Jan. 11, to discuss the candidates.
A District Court or Superior Court judge will be ready to swear in a new senator at that time, according to council discussions Tuesday.
But Browne will not be among the council members voting to replace Ericksen.
Brown didn’t run for a third term, and Kaylee Galloway was elected in November to serve the council’s District 1, which covers south Bellingham.
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 2:21 PM.
