Though flattered by efforts to see her elected Clark County council chair, state Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, said she will not be campaigning for the seat.
“The bottom line is voters elected me to be their voice in Olympia, and that is what they want me to do,” she said Monday.
Pike said in the unlikely event that she is elected county chair — “if pigs fly,” she said — she will resign as a representative and take the local office.
“Right now I’m committed to 100 percent doing the job I was elected to do,” Pike said. “If voters tell me they want me to do a different job in some strange outcome this fall, who am I if I don’t respect the will of voters?”
Pike has served as a state legislator in the 18th District since 2012.
Christian Berrigan, the Clark County Republican Party’s state committeeman, has proposed a write-in campaign for the lawmaker in an effort to provide conservative voters with another choice for Clark County council chair. Marc Boldt, a former Republican county commissioner who ran without a party preference, and Democrat Mike Dalesandro beat the three current Republican councilors in this month’s primary.
Clark County Republican Party precinct committee officers will vote on whether to support the effort at a meeting Wednesday.
Currently, conservative voters face a choice between “two liberals,” said Berrigan, who is also a precinct committee officer for the party.
“I think she’d be great,” Berrigan said of Pike. “I think it’s okay to give Republicans an option, someone to vote for who is closer in line (with the party).”
Launching a write-in campaign will be an uphill battle with or without the support of local GOP officials. The last time a local attempt was successful was in 1994, when populist politician Linda Smith campaigned for and won a Congress seat.
PAC established
Despite Pike’s skepticism that she would win a write-in campaign, proponents of the effort appear poised to put up a fight if the Clark County Republican Party approves.
In an email Berrigan sent to all the Clark County Republican precinct committee officers Saturday, he said a political action committee has already been established and the paperwork filed. Information about the PAC was not available on the Public Disclosure Commission’s website as of Monday afternoon, though there is some delay between filing as a PAC and the information being available.
Berrigan declined to name the backers of that PAC, though his email hinted at “very significant” donations from multiple donors.
“I’ve been told we will ‘have whatever we need,’ ” Berrigan wrote in the email.
If and when those donations roll in, however, they will be public record through the Public Disclosure Commission.
Though a write-in campaign could proceed without support from the Republican Party, Berrigan said he’s waiting to see what his fellow precinct committee officers have to say Wednesday before speculating about the future.
“It’s something for the PCOs and we’ll see how they roll with it,” Berrigan said. “We’ll see if commitments translate into reality.”
