King County Democrats nominate three to succeed State Representative Ross Hunter

Following Ross Hunter’s resignation from the Legislature to helm the Washington State Department of Early Learning, the King County Democrats tonight selected attorney Patty Kuderer, Redmond City Councilmember Kim Allen, and real estate broker Santiago Ramos as its nominees to fill the vacancy for State Representative, Position #1 in the 48th Legislative District. The final choice will be made by the Metropolitan King County Council within the next sixty days.

The three names were chosen by a special nominating caucus of the King County Democrats, consisting of the thirty-nine elected and appointed Democratic PCOs of the 48th. All thirty-nine PCOs showed up in person to participate in the nominating caucus.

The results of the three rounds of balloting were as follows:

• Patty Kuderer received the votes of twenty-five of thirty-nine PCOs for the first-ranked spot, and is the Democratic PCOs’ top choice by a three-to-one margin.
• Kim Allen received the voted of twenty PCOs for the second-ranked spot.
• Santiago Ramos received the votes of thirty-two PCOs 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 Metropolitan King County Council, in accordance with the procedures for filling legislative vacancies specified in Article II, Section 15 of the Washington State Constitution. The executive board voted unanimously to forward the names of Patty Kuderer, Kim Allen, and Santiago Ramos to the Council.

King County Democratic Chair Rich Erwin applauded the one hundred 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 Representative 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.”

“The King County Democrats thank Representative Hunter for his many years of service to our state, particularly those years when he served as the House’s chief budget writer,” said Erwin. “We look forward to providing support to Representative Hunter’s successor during next year’s presidential election.”