Live From Tacoma, NPI brings you coverage of the 2016 Washington State Democratic Convention
Live From Tacoma, NPI brings you coverage of the 2016 Washington State Democratic Convention

Good after­noon from Taco­ma. Today is the third day of the 2016 Wash­ing­ton State Demo­c­ra­t­ic Con­ven­tion, the last event in the state par­ty’s cau­cus and con­ven­tion cycle for this year. Com­mit­tee meet­ings and con­stituen­cy cau­cus­es were held on Fri­day along with the gala ban­quet; the gen­er­al ses­sion was held yes­ter­day along with the state lead­ers break­fast, and today, the leg­isla­tive mem­bers of the Wash­ing­ton State Demo­c­ra­t­ic Cen­tral Com­mit­tee are com­plet­ing the state’s nation­al del­e­ga­tion by select­ing the PLEO and at-large delegates.

The acronym PLEO stands for Par­ty Leader and Elect­ed Offi­cial. Indi­vid­u­als who serve in par­ty lead­er­ship roles or are Democ­rats who hold elect­ed posi­tions of pub­lic respon­si­bil­i­ty (like may­ors, state leg­is­la­tors, or trib­al coun­cilmem­bers) are eli­gi­ble to run for PLEO del­e­gate posi­tions and be elected.

Wash­ing­ton State has a total of twelve PLEO posi­tions this year. Based on the out­come of the May 21st con­gres­sion­al dis­trict cau­cus­es (and the April 17th/May 1st leg­isla­tive and March 26th precinct cau­cus­es before that) nine of those posi­tions go to Bernie Sanders, while three go to Hillary Clinton.

The bal­lot lists were sup­plied by the cam­paigns (who have, under par­ty rules, a right of review) and the final selec­tions were made by the leg­isla­tive mem­bers Wash­ing­ton State Demo­c­ra­t­ic Cen­tral Com­mit­tee (of which I am a member).

Here a com­plete list of the win­ners, sort­ed by vote totals.

PLEOs for Hillary Clinton

  1. King Coun­ty Exec­u­tive Dow Constantine
  2. State Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Lau­rie Jink­ins (D‑27th District)
  3. King Coun­ty Coun­cilmem­ber Jeanne Kohl-Welles (4th District)

PLEOs for Bernie Sanders

  1. State Sen­a­tor Bob Hasegawa (D‑11th District)
  2. State Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Noel Frame (D‑36th District)
  3. Yaki­ma Coun­ty Demo­c­ra­t­ic Chair Susan Palmer
  4. Dean McGrath, Pres­i­dent of ILWU Local 23
  5. Thurston Coun­ty Demo­c­ra­t­ic Chair Katrin Nelson
  6. Nicole Willis, Native Amer­i­can Pol­i­cy Advis­er to Bernie Sanders
  7. Pat­sy White­foot, WSDCC (Com­mit­teemem­ber for 14th LD)
  8. Sequim Precinct Com­mit­tee Offi­cer Andrew Shogren
  9. Nick­o­laus Lewis, Lum­mi Indi­an Busi­ness Coun­cil Member

Con­grat­u­la­tions to the above twelve new­ly cho­sen mem­bers of Wash­ing­ton State’s Demo­c­ra­t­ic Nation­al Con­ven­tion delegation.

WSDCC leg­isla­tive mem­bers must now choose the at-large del­e­gates for Clin­ton and Sanders. Once these selec­tions are made, the del­e­ga­tion will be complete.

About the author

Andrew Villeneuve is the founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, as well as the founder of NPI's sibling, the Northwest Progressive Foundation. He has worked to advance progressive causes for over two decades as a strategist, speaker, author, and organizer. Andrew is also a cybersecurity expert, a veteran facilitator, a delegate to the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, and a member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

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One reply on “LIVE from Tacoma: Washington’s PLEO national delegates have been chosen”

  1. As some­one who attend­ed, I think the big sto­ry was the dis­en­fran­chised find­ing their voice. The wide open Bernie slate, which was about 3⁄4 of the del­e­gates were almost all first timers.

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