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Three days ahead of Election Day, a small group of Bellingham residents gathered to knock on doors across the city to encourage voters to cast their ballots.
Volunteers were buoyed by state and national Democratic candidates who stressed the importance of getting people to ballot drop boxes in a county and legislative district where every single vote is crucial. Many of the candidates, such as Rep. Joe Timmons, had already been out knocking on doors in their district.
“Our race is going to be very close,” Timmons said at the pre-doorbell gathering on Saturday, Nov. 2. “Alicia [Rule] and I won by less than 2,000 votes two years ago.”
Timmons and Rule represent District 42 in the Washington state House of Representatives. Both candidates have had nail-biters of races the last time they ran for election. In a few days that tension may return as votes are counted for the incumbents and their Republican challengers, Kamal Bachu and Raymond Pelletti.
District 42, which encompasses portions of Bellingham, Blaine, Ferndale and east Whatcom County, has had close races in the recent past. In the 2018 general election, the District 42 state Senate seat was determined by 45 votes, allowing late Sen. Doug Ericksen to clinch victory over challenger Pinky Vargas.
By going door to door in the district, volunteers were putting their own personal touch on getting people out to vote.
“Everybody in that district has gotten 25 pieces of junk mail,” said Rep. Alex Ramel (D-Bellingham). “You’re going to be the only person that talks to them face to face. You’re going to be the only person that creates that personal connection that says ‘I’m volunteering today because this is what matters to me and I hope it matters to you too.’”
Sen. Maria Cantwell, also in attendance Saturday, told volunteers she had a special place in her heart for Whatcom County because of the difference it made in her first victory for Congress in 2000.
“Every single vote matters and everything you do today matters in communicating with our friends and neighbors in what is, I think, one of the most important elections,” she said.
In Whatcom County, 84,000 voters have either mailed or dropped their ballots off at a drop box location, as of 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1. That’s about 50% of registered voters in the county.
Ahead of the Nov. 5 election, Gov. Jay Inslee temporarily activated Washington National Guard troops to be on stand-by status for four days starting Monday, Nov. 4 in case of election-related unrest. Troops are meant to help local law enforcement as well as the Washington State Patrol.
Southwestern Washington has already seen some election interference. A ballot box in Vancouver caught on fire earlier in the week after an incendiary device went off. Law enforcement is still looking for the suspect, described to be a white man between the age of 30 and 40 who is linked to a 2001 or 2004 Volvo S60.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
