Election: Public health official challenges Bellingham City Council president
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Whatcom County Elections 2025
These are the Whatcom County races we’re following for the Nov. 4, 2025 election.
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Bellingham business owner and City Council member Hollie Huthman is facing a challenge from Leah Wainman, a public health professional and an appointed member of the Whatcom County Public Health Advisory Board.
Ward 2 generally encompasses Bellingham neighborhoods east of Meridian Street and north of Sunset Drive. It also includes part of Sunnyland.
The City Council makes laws, appoints members of advisory committees and controls the purse through its budget authority.
All City Council races are nonpartisan, but the two major parties usually endorse candidates. Both Huthman and Wainman have support from Democratic Party organizations and Democratic Party-aligned groups.
All registered voters in Bellingham can vote in this race, regardless of ward. Ballots were mailed to registered voters on Wednesday and must be postmarked or placed in a drop box by 8 p.m. on Nov. 4 in Washington’s all-mail election.
Hollie Huthman
Huthman is owner of The Shakedown, a downtown live music venue. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology with an emphasis in criminology from Western Washington University.
She was elected in 2019 to the City Council’s at-large seat, which carries a two-year term, and then ran unopposed in 2021 to replace Ward 2 Councilman Gene Knutson, who served 30 years on the council but didn’t seek re-election. She currently serves as council president and chairs City Council meetings. From 2016-2019, she chaired the board of directors of Make.Shift, an organization that supports local arts and music organization, and she was on the formation committee for the Whatcom Racial Equity Commission.
“The last 5 years have tested us all and my work on the council has provided me with a master class in resiliency, flexibility, and the power of community. During the pandemic, I helped launch the Whatcom County Racial Equity Commission, working with partners to create a lasting framework for change. I’ve enacted new funding for affordable housing, bringing the total to $10 million per year invested in housing our lowest-income residents. I voted to create the Alternative Response Team, sending non-uniformed professionals to mental health calls rather than police,” Huthman said at her campaign website.
At an Aug. 27 election forum held by the Bellingham City Club, Huthman said Bellingham is at a “turning point” with development projects moving forward on the waterfront, in Old Town, Barkley Village and other locations.
“We’re on the precipice of having some amazing change and I want to be a part of helping to make that happen. I want to make sure that everybody who wants to live here is able to afford to live here. That’s why I (ran for) council,” Huthman said.
Huthman is endorsed by the 42nd District Democrats and several unions, including the Northwest Central Labor Council and the Bellingham/Whatcom County Firefighters Local 106, the National Women’s Political Caucus and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility. She also has support from Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund and her City Council colleagues Skip Williams, Dan Hammill and Jace Cotton, along with Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu and County Council members Kaylee Galloway, Jon Scanlon and Todd Donovan. She also has endorsements from Democratic Party elected officials at the state and federal level, including U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, state Sen. Sharon Shewmake, and state Reps. Alex Ramel and Joe Timmons.
Huthman has raised $25,505 for her re-election campaign through Oct. 14, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. About two-thirds of that is from individual donors and about $5,000 from businesses.
Leah Wainman
Wainman is an epidemiologist with the state Department of Health and a member of the Whatcom County Public Health Advisory Board, which advises the Whatcom County Council regarding health policy. She has a master’s degree in public health from the University of Washington.
She’s also on the board of the Whatcom County Dispute Resolution Center and has served in the Peace Corps on the city of Bellingham’s Community Development Advisory Board, where she advocated for grant funding for child-care providers. She was a delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, which nominated Kamala Harris for president.
“I’m running for City Council because I believe we can — and must — do more to create equitable opportunities and shared prosperity in Bellingham,” Wainman said at her campaign website.
“I co-authored Whatcom County’s policy to declare racism a public health crisis. I developed an equity tool to guide budget reductions for millions in state public health funding, and I successfully lobbied for state-level childcare and working families investments in Olympia. I also co-founded programs that expanded tech access and skills for low income youth,” Wainman said in her statement for the Washington state Voters Guide.
According to her campaign website, Wainman is endorsed by the 40th and 42nd District Democrats, women of Color in Politics and Sage Leaders, an organization supporting Black, Indigenous and people of color as civic leaders. She is supported by unions including the Guild of Pacific Northwest Employees Local 1937, WAWU-UAW, and Western States Carpenters. Further backing comes from Planned Parenthood, Moms Demand Action and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, along with the Sierra Club, Whatcom Environmental Voters and the Washington Housing Alliance.
Wainman raised $25,486 for her campaign through Oct, 15, according to the Public Disclosure Commission. About three-quarters of that total is from individual contributions, and about $3,000 is from union and party sources.
This story was originally published October 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
