An effort is underway to elect state Rep. Liz Pike as Clark County council chair.
Proponents of the idea hope to launch a write-in campaign for Pike, a Camas Republican, in a race that has no Republican candidate on the ballot, according to an email sent to Clark County Republican Party members Saturday from Christian Berrigan, the group’s state committeeman. In this month’s primary, Marc Boldt, a former Republican county commissioner who ran without a party preference, and Democrat Mike Dalesandro edged out three Republican candidates.
That doesn’t give Republican voters much to look forward to in the chair race this November, Berrigan said.
“Marc Boldt’s past voting record, past and current actions, as well as positions on issues in this current race, in my eyes make this race between two equivalent liberals,” Berrigan wrote in the email obtained by The Columbian on Sunday.
The write-in plan will be voted on at the local GOP’s candidate endorsement meeting Wednesday, Berrigan said.
“This is not Liz’s idea, she will not be filing (as a write-in candidate), she will not be campaigning, but she will serve if elected,” Berrigan wrote.
An effort to reach Pike on Sunday was unsuccessful. Pike has served as a state legislator in the 18th District since 2012.
If other precinct committee officers in the local party agree with the write-in plan on Wednesday, Berrigan said, “I’ve been told we will ‘have whatever we need.’ ” That includes significant commitments from multiple donors and the establishment of a political action committee, he wrote.
Because Berrigan hopes to launch an independent expenditure campaign, he said, the PAC and the campaign cannot coordinate with Pike.
There is an added strategic benefit for the write-in campaign. Berrigan said it could encourage more conservatives to vote in the November election, giving a boost to other conservatives on the ballot, including county council District 2 candidate Julie Olson, Port of Vancouver commissioner candidate Lisa Ross and Vancouver City Councilman Bill Turlay, who is running for re-election.
“Absent this well-funded write-in campaign, there is no way a similar (get-out-the-vote) effort could be mounted” for other conservative candidates, Berrigan wrote. “Write-in Liz Pike can actually win if the Republican and other conservative voters are properly informed of the option.”
Reached by phone Sunday, Boldt said he interpreted the write-in effort as a proxy war for Republican county Councilor David Madore, who, along with Republican county Councilors Tom Mielke and Jeanne Stewart, lost to Boldt and Dalesandro in the primary.
“I guess I knew from several people that David was mad and would try to do everything to get me out of the race,” Boldt said, but he added he was surprised that Pike apparently would be the one to “take his bait.”
Boldt said the development would not change his campaign strategy.
“News like this kind of gives you energy to work harder,” he said.
Boldt has a rocky history with the Clark County Republican Party and Madore.
He was defeated by Madore in a county commissioner race in 2012.
Before the election that year, the Clark County Republican Party sanctioned Boldt for actions GOP officials deemed were out of sync with the party — in essence, not conservative enough.
Instead, the party backed Madore.
