Set to run unopposed as the Whatcom Democrats Chair, Andrew Reding withdrew his nomination and put forward Eamonn Collins, a former federal policymaker who is now a science teacher at Lummi Nation School.
“One of the hallmarks of good stewardship is preparing others for leadership, and passing on the top office from a position of strength and solvency,” Reding wrote in an announcement posted online last week.
Collins secured the chair position in a 50-0 by the elected precinct committee officers on Jan. 11.
Collins has experience on the Whatcom Democrats executive board and campaign experience. He is also the Board Vice President of the Kulshan Community Land Trust, as well as part of the Whatcom County Charter Review Commission.
“I’m really interested in growing and engaging our membership,” Collins told Cascadia Daily News, noting that there is an opportunity to better recruit mid-career, middle-aged people with young kids.
While he said the two-party system and the money in politics that props up that system is “absolutely toxic to government,” he explained that he was won over by the Whatcom Democrats because they are authentically involved in local issues and serve as a touchpoint for local elected officials.
Collins said that while he has “big shoes to fill” he hopes to find a path forward for creating more in-person meetings, noting that since the pandemic the party has been heavily reliant on Zoom.
In the announcement, Reding lauded the accomplishments of the local Democratic Party during the six years he was chair.
“Together we have transformed the Whatcom County political landscape,” Reding wrote. “We have turned a purple county almost completely blue.”
He noted Whatcom County bucked the national trend of a conservative shift of voters, as the county voted even more blue.
“We’ve elected record numbers of women, the first Black sheriff and Bellingham city council members, first nonwhite county executive and PUD commissioner, first native state legislator from our region, the first openly LGBTQ+ city council member and county charter review commissioners,” Reding wrote, noting that he was the first openly gay county chair of either party.
Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN’s enterprise/investigations reporter; reach him at isaacsimonelli@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 127.
