Redmond City Council Kim Allen is one of three individuals who have been nominated by the King County Democrats to fill a state representative vacancy with the state Legislature.
The other two nominees are attorney Patty Kuderer and real estate broker Santiago Ramos and the position one of them will fill is Pos. 1 in the 48th Legislative District, following Ross Hunter’s resignation to helm the Washington State Department of Early Learning.
The final choice will be made by the Metropolitan King County Council within the next 60 days.
The three names were chosen by a special nominating caucus of the King County Democrats, consisting of the 39 elected and appointed Democratic PCOs of the 48th district. All 39 PCOs showed up in person to participate in the nominating caucus.
The results of the three rounds of balloting were as follows: Kuderer received 25 of 39 votes for the first-ranked spot and is the Democratic PCOs’ top choice by a 3-to-1 margin. Allen received 20 votes for the second-ranked spot. Ramos received 32 votes for the third-ranked spot.
Following the adjournment of the caucus, the King County Democratic Central Committee’s executive board met briefly to ratify the results of the special nominating caucus for transmission to the King County Council, in accordance with the procedures for filling legislative vacancies specified in the Washington State Constitution. The executive board voted unanimously to forward the three nominees’ names to the council.
King County Democratic Chair Rich Erwin applauded the 100 percent turnout and thanked the four candidates – Kuderer, Allen, Ramos and activist Nick Pernisco – for stepping forward to seek the appointment.
“This evening, the Democratic PCOs of the 48th Legislative District had four excellent candidates from which to choose a replacement for Rep. Ross Hunter, who now works directly for Governor Inslee at the Department of Early Learning,” said Erwin. “Of these four, three were selected to be presented to the King County Council for final consideration. I want to express my gratitude to these four dedicated Democrats for running, and to the PCOs of the 48th for setting a good example for every Democratic organization to follow by all showing up to make this nominating caucus a smooth success.”
He continued, “The King County Democrats thank Rep. Hunter for his many years of service to our state, particularly those years when he served as the House’s chief budget writer. We look forward to providing support to Representative Hunter’s successor during next year’s presidential election.”
