Endorsements Meeting 5/17/2020

  1. The meeting was called to order at 12:04 by Chair Sharon Holt.
  2. The first credentials report shows 29 members and PCOs, present & voting.
    (3 Officers Absent – Simone Gomes, David Chan, Denisa Ruxander)
  3. Adoption of the Agenda was MOVED, Seconded, and with no objections or amendment, *MOTION PASSED.
  4. The Rules of the 21st LD were reviewed, which primarily rely upon Roberts Rules of Order, with one exception – There is one 21st LD Special Rule that requires candidates support Single Payer health care in order to obtain endorsement, so unless the body suspends that rule by 2/3 super-majority vote, candidates that do not support Single Payer may not be endorsed.
  5. An overview of the proposed 21st Endorsement meeting Process was explained by the Chair:
    1. Endorsement Committee recommendations in multiple Candidate Slates
      1.  Statewide Candidates
      1. County & Local Candidates
      1. Judicial Candidates
      1. Legislative Candidates
      1. Congressional
    1.  Candidates present will each gave a brief 1.5-minute speech to introduce themselves, share why they were running for office, and why they seek 21st LD endorsement.
    1. Endorsement Committee Process for recommendations was explained by the Chair and Co-Chair of the 21st LD Endorsement and Election Committee, Clare VanHollebeke and Neil Shafer-Ross, respectively.
    1. The Recommendations proposed by the Endorsement Committee are then revealed to the membership and candidates, read on screen, with full transparency to the audience present.
      * QUESTION- Are Copies of the 21st Recommendations distributed? /Answer – NO.   The purpose of this document is solely intended to share with the meeting participants, as information, and not for publication or any other use.
    1. Each Slate are then addressed, one by one, with the Candidates leaving the room during the membership debate.
      *MOTION There was a motion to only remove the candidates relevant to the current debate, so other candidates could stay while debate was in progress, rather than remove all candidates – MOTION PASSED.
    1. The membership may request to remove a candidate from the slate, no motion or debate is required.
    1. The slates are then debated and voted by the membership.
    1. The Candidates return from the waiting room to the meeting room, and the endorsed candidates are announced.
    1. After each slate is done, any candidates removed from that slate are then addressed in the same way.
    1. After all slates are done, if time, endorsements may come from the floor.
  6. QUESTION – ‘Since candidates who are also members must leave the room during debate how do record their own vote? ANSWER – They can give their vote before leaving the room, it is assumed candidates will vote for themselves, but whatever their vote, it will be recorded in the tally.
  7. 15 Candidate Speeches ran from 12:25 and finished at 12:48
    Candidate Speakers – Marko Liias, Lillian Ortiz-Self, Strom Peterson, Robert Grant, Jason Call, Linda Larsen, Jennifer Langbehn, Paul Thompson, Edirin Okoloko, Anna Alexander, Linda Coburn, Louis Harris, Anna Boris (for Hillary Franz), Gant Deide, Dr. Almeida.
  8. POLLS were used for voting, unless the person could not see the Poll in Zoom, in which case they gave their vote verbally, which was recorded on paper, added to the Poll Vote to arrive at the total votes, which were announced to the body.  POLL Results were shared online, as well as the voting button counts (Green YES, Red NO).
  9. 1:05 pm – Credentials holding steady at 29 members and PCOs
  10. Slates were addressed in order per the call of the Endorsement Committee Chairs, with vote tally as follows:
    1. Local and Regional – PASS (POLL # 3, Tally 30-Yes, 0 No)
    1. Judicial – PASS (POLL #4, Tally 29-Yes, 0-No)
    1. Statewide (Marko removed from slate) – PASS (POLL #5, Tally 28-Yes, 1 No)
    1. Marko Liias – PASS (Tally 20-Yes, 5-No)
    1. Legislative A (Strom removed from slate) – PASS (POLL #1, Tally 29-Yes, 0-No)
    1. Strom Peterson – PASS (Tally, 24-Yes, 5-No)
    1. Congressional A Pramila Jayapal – PASS (POLL #2, Tally, 24-Yes, 0 No)
  11. 3:22 pm Motion, Second, to suspend the Special Rule requiring Single Payer
    3:39 pm Credential Count update = 29
    3:40 pm Motion to Call the Question, Launch Poll
    3:52 pm Call Question PASS (Tally 24-Yes, 0-No)
    4:21 PM Motion to suspend rules FAILs (Tally 16-Yes, 9-No)
  12. Congressional B Rick Larsen – Slate was not addressed by the body after the special rule was not suspended.
  13. 4:26 pm After all Endorsement Recommendations were addressed by slate and individually, there was a MOTION from the floor to endorse Jason Call, seconded.
    Credential Count Update = 24
    4:28 pm Motion, Second, to postpone indefinitely, PASS (Tally 19-Yes, 3-No)

  14. MOTION TO ADJOURN, Seconded,
    MOTION PASSED
  15. Meeting adjourned at 4:33

Summary of Endorsement Motions – Slate & Individual Candidate Endorsements

First panel Local and Regional:
Jared Mead – SnoCo Council Pos. 4
Louis Harris – Mukilteo City Council Pos. 1
Motion to endorse, second
Motion carried

Second panel Judicial:
Charles Johnson – Supreme Court Pos. 4
G. Helen Whitener – Supreme Court Pos. 6
Linda Coburn – Court of Appeals, Div. 1, District 2
SnoCo Superior Court Judges:
Cindy Larsen – Pos. 3
Edirin Okoloko – Pos. 4
Anna Alexander – Pos. 7
Jennifer Langbehn – Pos. 13
Paul Thompson – Pos. 14
Motion to endorse, second
Motion carried

Third panel Statewide:
Jay Inslee – Governor
Marko Liias – Lt. Governor
Bob Ferguson – Attorney General
Gael Tarleton – Secretary of State
Hilary Franz – Commissioner of Public Lands

Motion to remove Marko Liias from panel. Needs no second or vote
Motion to endorse (panel w/o Marko Liias), second
Motion carried
Motion to endorse Marko Liias for Lt. Governor, second
Motion carried

Fourth panel Legislative:
Lillian Ortiz-Self – State Rep. 21st District Pos. 2
Strom Peterson – State Rep. 21st District Pos. 1

Motion to remove Strom Peterson from panel
Motion to endorse panel (only Lillian), second
Motion passed
Motion to endorse Strom Peterson, second
Motion passed

Fifth panel Congressional A:
Pramila Jayapal – US Representative, 7th District
Motion to endorse, second
Motion passed

Sixth panel Congressional B
Rick Larsen – US Representative, 2nd District
Requires suspension of special rule (to be considered for endorsement candidate must be in favor of “Single Payer Healthcare”)
Motion to suspend rules requires 2/3 in favor.
It fails (16 aye, 9 nay)