See-saw campaign continues as Spanel endorses Henderson

Don't like the way things are going for your candidate in the 40th Legislative District? Wait a week.

The race to replace Sen. Harriet Spanel (D-Bellingham) has been one of the wildest so far in terms of twists and turns, with a glut of candidates, late drop-outs, and an endorsement process gone slightly awry. And don't forget the Salmon Yoga Party.

So it continues today as the retiring Spanel announced her endorsement of Ken Henderson (D-Bellingham), whose campaign seemed on the rocks as recently as a month ago.

"Ken's views on many issues are similar to mine and I appreciate his willingness to listen and his follow through", Spanel stated in a press release announcing her decision.

Things started back in the spring when Henderson had a strong fundraising advantage and seemed to be the early favorite. But on the May 18 the 40th LD executive board, in accordance with party rules, chose Kevin Ranker (D-San Juan Island) as the party's official nominee.

A month later, on June 12th, the district held a series of endorsement meetings. At first they hoped to narrow down the field of five candidates to two in order to insure that at least one Democrat would move on past the "top two" primary, but once it was revealed that only one Republican had entered, Samish Island's Steve Van Luven, the group instead held a series of endorsement votes with the intention of endorsing as many candidates as possible.

But something funny happened along the way. Despite voters' ability to select multiple candidates for the endorsement, only one man received the nod from the district, Kevin Ranker.

Ranker then proceeded to rack up endorsements from individuals and interest groups across the state and, better still, campaign contributions. As June came to its conclusion, Ranker had overtaken Henderson financial advantage and seemed like the runaway favorite for the seat.

But now with back to back endorsements from Rep. Dave Quall (D-Mt. Vernon) and Harriet Spanel, though Ranker has the backing of Rep. Jeff Morris (D-Anacortes), Henderson has wrested back some of the momentum.

Still, Spanel went out of her way to say she had faith in Ranker's ability to run a strong campaign.

"I encouraged both to run when they expressed an interest to me last spring," Spanel continued. "Their styles are different and I respect them both."

Given each candidate's numerous endorsements, she is not the only one.

Both have roughly the same amount of money in the bank (Ranker has $48,000 and Henderson has $44,000) and a race that recently seemed like a downhill path is once again relatively even, but wait a week.