Filling a vacant seat in the Legislature

The untimely death of Senator Scott White left us with holes to fill, both in our hearts and within our state legislative body. The PCOs met on November 10th in compliance with the State Constitution and the rules of our party to quickly fill the vacant seat in the Washington State Senate.

The Washington State Constitution, Article 2, Section 15, provides us with the actions required upon "VACANCIES IN LEGISLATURE AND IN PARTISAN COUNTY ELECTIVE OFFICE." Excerpted below:

Such vacancies as may occur in either house of the legislature or in any partisan county elective office shall be filled by appointment by the county legislative authority of the county in which the vacancy occurs: Provided, That the person appointed to fill the vacancy must be from the same legislative district, county, or county commissioner or council district and the same political party as the legislator or partisan county elective officer whose office has been vacated, and shall be one of three persons who shall be nominated by the county central committee of that party, and in case a majority of the members of the county legislative authority do not agree upon the appointment within sixty days after the vacancy occurs, the governor shall within thirty days thereafter, and from the list of nominees provided for herein, appoint a person who shall be from the same legislative district, county, or county commissioner or council district and of the same political party as the legislator or partisan county elective officer whose office has been vacated, and the person so appointed shall hold office until his or her successor is elected at the next general election, and has qualified:...

The result of the meeting was a list of three names:

• David Frockt - 69 votes
• David Miller - 10 votes
• Tony Provine - 6 votes

This list was ratified by the KCDCC Executive Board acting in their capacity in place of the full KCDCC, and shall be submitted by the KCDCC Chair to the King County Council for their action on Monday, November 14th. The full King County Council met and voted to confirm David Frockt as the State Senator from the 46th LD, and Senator Frockt was sworn in at 3pm, right after he faxed his resignation letter to the Governor.

We then filled the vacancy in the State House. The Chair of the King County Democrats called another Special Caucus of the Elected and Appointed Precinct Committee Officers within the 46th Legislative District in order to fill that vacant seat in the Washington State House of Representatives.

Call to Caucus
All Elected and Appointed PCOs within the 46th LD
Date: Thursday, December 1st.
Time: 7:00pm doors open, 7:30pm meeting begins
Location: Olympic View Elementary School.
504 NE 95th St. Seattle, WA 98115

Only Elected and Appointed Precinct Committee Officers may vote, but all are welcome to observe.

At our meeting on October 25th, 2011 the KCDCC Executive Board approved procedures that will be used to fill this legislative vacancy.

Please click here to read those procedures

Part of these procedures is a requirement to have the King County Democratic Central Committee (KCDCC) ratify the list of three names that come from the special caucus. The KCDCC Executive Board will be acting in their capacity to handle matters for the entire KCDCC between reorganization meetings. The KCDCC Executive Board will ratify the list of three names produced at the special caucus meeting that same evening.

Please click here to see the Official Call and Meeting Agenda issued by the King County Democrats.

Information for potential candidates

Another requirement set forth by the KCDCC Executive Board is for all candidates expressing interest in being appointed to have completed and filed a copy of the KCDCC Candidate Questionnaire at least 5 days prior to the special caucus. The most recently approved version of the KCDCC Candidate Questionnaire for legislative elections from 2010 may be found on the 2010 Endorsements page (at the bottom of the page). The 2011 Candidate Questionnaire will also be accepted, and you can find that on this page near the bottom of the 2011 Endorsements page. Candidates, please fill out and send this to our Chair Steve Zemke AND the Chair of the 46th District Democrats Chad Lupkes at least five days prior to the Special Caucus. Received questionnaires will be posted on this page in the order they are received.

Questionnaires from potential House Nominees

Anyone who submits a questionnaire on or before November 26th is qualified to be nominated for the House appointment even if they are not seeking that position. The questionnaires are posted in the order received, so the earlier they are received, the more time our PCOs have to review them.

• Sarajane Siegfriedt, received Saturday, October 29th
• Chad Lupkes, received Monday, October 31st - Withdrawn
• David Miller, received Tuesday, Nov 1st - Withdrawn
• Tony Provine, received Thursday, Nov 3rd
• Gerry Pollet, received Saturday, November 5th
  • Senate Appointment
  • House Appointment
• Tatsuko Go Hollo, received Monday, November 14th - Withdrawn
• Javier Valdez, received Tuesday, November 15th
• Gabe Meyer, received Wednesday, November 16th
• Rene T. Murry, received Wednesday, November 16th
• Sylvester Cann, received Wednesday, November 16th
• Chris Truppner, received Sunday, November 20th
• Dusty Hoerler, received Monday, November 21st

Results of the Special Caucus, December 1st, 2011

The PCOs met and voted after hearing from all candidates who were nominated.

Candidates Nominated

• Tony Provine, Nominated by: Chad Lupkes, Seconded by: Philip Shack
• Gerry Pollet, N: Patricia Gouge, S: Jacqueline Sorgen
• Sarajane Siegfreidt, N: Dean Fournier, S: Diane Lewis
• Rene Murry, N: Pat McCoy, S: Janet Miller
• Sylvester Cann, N: Skip Knox, S: Jim Fridley
• Javier Valdez, N: Brent McFarlane, S: Angela Henry
• Dusty Hoeler, N: Thomas Veatch, S: Joshua Newman
• Gabe Meyer, N: Peter Shapiro, S: Janet Miller

First Vote

• Gerry Pollet - 37
• Sylvester Cann - 33
• Javier Valdez - 20
• Sarajane Siegfreidt - 10
• Rene Murry - 2
• Dusty Hoerler - 2
• Gabe Meyer - 1
• Tony Provine - 0

Second vote

Per the rules, the field was narrowed to the top three candidates, and a second vote was taken.

• Gerry Pollet - 48
• Sylvester Cann - 38
• Javier Valdez - 19

Third vote

With the goal of identifying a single candidate at the top of the list with the support of a majority of PCOs, a third vote was taken between the top two candidates.

• Gerry Pollet - 57
• Sylvester Cann - 47

Final result

Given the results of these votes, these three names were presented to the King County Council, with a recommendation that they appoint Gerry Pollet as the State Reprsentative from the 46th Legislative District.

• Gerry Pollet
• Sylvester Cann
• Javier Valdez

Additional Information from the 46th District Democrats

The 46th District has put together a page with additional information that would be useful for all
PCOs and candidatess to review. Please click here to go to that page.

How to help the family

We would be remiss to not provide information on how to help the family of Senator Scott White. Please see the 46th District Blog that has that information. The 46th District Chair will be keeping the blog updated with the latest news, either with direct posts or through the wa46dems Twitter account.

Additional details will be posted as soon as they are available.