UPDATE: May 10, 2023: Readers of the South Whidbey edition of our newsletter know we’ve been speculating on Thomas Gill‘s entry into the Langley mayoral race for some time. Gill made it official over the weekend by filing with the PDC. Patrick Harman also filed for the Oak Harbor City Council seat currently occupied by Beth Munns, as reported by the Whidbey News-Times.
See earlier updates at the bottom of this post.
ORIGINAL POST: 41 elective offices in Island County will be on the ballot in November 2023. These offices include mayors and city councillors, school board directors, and commissioners for the hospital, fire, parks, port and cemetery districts. Candidates for these offices must file with the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) in addition to filing with the county auditor’s office. Candidates may opt for full reporting or mini-reporting; mini-reporting indicates the candidate will raise no more than $5,000 for their campaign and abide by other restrictions, but have reduced reporting requirements.
Below is the list of candidates who have filed with PDC. For the full list of offices on the ballot in 2023, please see our post here.
City of Oak Harbor
City Council, Position 1
| Tara J. Hizon. Filed Feb. 1, 2023. Mini-reporting. See Ms. Hizon’s campaign reports. |
City Council, Position 2
| Patrick D Harman (Patrick “Pat” Harman). Filed May 6, 2023. Mini-reporting. See Mr. Harman’s campaign reports. |
City Council, Position 4
| Barbara Lee Thompson Armes (Barbara Armes). Full reporting. See Ms. Armes campaign reports. |
City Council, Position unspecified
| Christopher J. Weigenstein. Filed Apr. 16, 2023. Mini-reporting. See Mr. Weigenstein’s campaign reports. |
Mayor
| Christopher Shane Hoffmire (Shane Hoffmire). Filed Mar. 22, 2023. Mini-reporting. See Mr. Hoffmire’s campaign reports. |
| Ronnie Wright. Filed Apr. 28, 2023. Full reporting. See Mr. Wright’s campaign reports. |
City of Langley
City Council, Position 3
| Christopher Carlson (Chris Carlson). Filed May 3, 2023. Mini-reporting. See Mr. Carlson’s campaign reports. |
Mayor
| Thomas E. Gill. Filed May 6, 2023. Mini-reporting. See Mr. Gill’s campaign reports. |
Stanwood-Camano School District
Director, Position 4
| Betsy Foster. Filed May 1, 2023. Mini-reporting. See Ms. Foster’s campaign reports. |
May 7, 2023: While most of the action still resides in Oak Harbor, this week sees the first candidates outside North Whidbey. Chris Carlson, who chairs the Finance and Personnel Legislative Commission for the City of Langley, filed with the PDC to run for City Council position 3, currently occupied by Thomas Gill. Betsy Foster of Stanwood filed for Position 4 on the Stanwood-Camano School Board. And back in Oak Harbor, Barbara Armes filed for the seat vacated by Dan Evans; the Whidbey News-Times reports she is applying for the appointment as well. Andy Plumlee announced his intention to apply for the Evans’ seat and run in November, and Patrick Harman declared for the seat Beth Munns currently holds; neither has filed with the PDC as of May 7.
Apr. 30, 2023: Oak Harbor continues to be the only action on the board. Ronnie Wright, owner of Pacific Grace Tax And Accounting, filed with the PDC on Fri., Apr. 28; we have see no official announcement from Mr. Wright. Andy Plumlee, owner of Popsies Popcorn, Ice Cream and Sweets, announced his intention to apply for the City Council vacancy created by Dan Evans’ resignation, but as of now, he has not filed with the PDC.
Apr. 19, 2023: The City of Oak Harbor is still the only action on the board, but we have another candidate. City Councilman Shane Hoffmire, first elected to the council in Nov. 2021, has filed to run for Mayor. Current Mayor Bob Severns, the first Oak Harbor mayor to serve a second term since Patty Cohen (2000-2008) has made no announcement.
Mar. 26, 2023: The City of Oak Harbor is still the only action on the board, but we have another candidate. City Councilman Shane Hoffmire, first elected to the council in Nov. 2021, has filed to run for Mayor. Current Mayor Bob Severns, the first Oak Harbor mayor to serve a second term since Patty Cohen (2000-2008) has made no announcement.
Feb. 21, 2023: The first candidate to file for any office is incumbent Oak Harbor City Councilwoman (and Mayor Pro Tem) Tara Hizon. Ms. Hizon has chosen mini-reporting.
