Don’t expect much overt campaigning – especially the door-knocking variety – by candidates for local elective offices as long as coronavirus restrictions remain in place.
Several candidates have announced that their campaigns will stay active, but in a relatively low-key way, ahead of the August primary elections.
Adrianne Moore, a Winthrop resident and nonprofits manager, is running as a Democrat challenging first-term incumbent 12th Legislative District Rep. Keith Goehner (R-Dryden) for the Position 1 seat. She said her campaign will continue, adding that she and campaign manager Elana Mainer will adjust strategies originally designed around a lot of direct voter contact.
Moore said in a press release, “I had a moment this week when I looked at my kids, and thought of the hundreds of children and families I have worked with over the years who will need us now more than ever, and I realized that means this work is more important than ever.”
A March 27 campaign launch at Three Fingered Jacks has been canceled. Visit www.voiceofthe12th.com or social media for updates.
Another candidate for the 12th District Position 1 seat, physician Ann Diamond, is running as an Independent. Diamond, also a Methow Valley resident, lost to Goehner in the 2018 race for the Position 1 seat. She said it’s appropriate to take time away from active campaigning to be available as a doctor.
“I have been a community physician for over 25 years, and right now our community needs trained physicians more than independent political candidates,” Diamond said. “I am not leaving the race; I am pressing the pause button while I begin work with Confluence Health on their COVID-19 response.”
Diamond’s supporters will stay busy. Campaign manager Lael Isola said in an email that “we’ll continue to work for Dr. Ann.”
A campaign kickoff event planned for March 26 in Twisp has been canceled. For more information, visit www.diamond4house.org.
Goehner said this week that while he has not made a formal announcement, he intends to seek re-election. Until the legislative session concluded last week, he was fully engaged at Olympia. He said that post-session work will continue to keep him busy as a legislator.
“I still have a job to do,” he said. “My responsibility is to stay on top of the issues that are most important to people.”
An immediate concern, he said, is addressing water availability issues in Okanogan County. “If you’re going to have a vibrant economy, you have to have water,” he said.
Other issues he’s most concerned about, Goehner said, are affordable housing, energy usage and distribution, support for local governments that need more leeway for self-governance, and funding for education.
“Campaigning will happen when it is more appropriate and some of the gathering and interaction protocols are adjusted,” Goehner said in an email.
Katie Haven, a sheep rancher who lives in the lower Methow Valley, is challenging first-term incumbent County Commissioner Andy Hover for the District 2 seat on the commission. She is running as a Democrat.
“For right now, I have hit the pause button on my fundraising and voter contact,” Haven said in an email. While it’s a great time to actually get hold of folks by phone since they are all at home, it is a stressful time for most of us … When I resume my campaign, I will be considering more video events, phone calls and social media outreach. These are all things I was planning on anyway to supplement the door-knocking, but will have to rely on them exclusively for the time being.”
Haven earlier canceled a campaign kickoff event scheduled for March 20. For more information, visit www.katiehaven.com.
Hover said that “for now, digital and print media … will be the best campaigning tools to keep everyone safe but still get the message out.”
