A tale of two elections in 2022: The 42nd District

Sen. Simon Sefzik

Sen Elect. Sharon Shewmake, D-42
Disappearing leads from Primary to General elections are generally very rare; but the 42nd Legislative District in northern Whatcom County began the habit in 2018. All three Republicans lost the Primary elections but two of the three Republicans were elected in the General: one by 45 votes and the other by 84 votes.
In 2020 the two Republican Candidates for State Legislature in the 42nd received the nod from Primary Voters.
Luanne VanWerven was the winner with nearly 52% of the Vote and new comer Jennifer Sefzik led by nearly one percentage point. They were both defeated in the General election by Alicia Rule in the VanWerven race and Sharon Shewmake in the Jennifer Sefzik race.
So it turned out to be the same in the 2022 race where the Combination of Simon Sefzik and Ben Elenbaas garnered nearly 53% of the Primary vote over incumbent Rep Sharon Shewmake. In the other races Twasha Dykstra and Kamal Bhachu received a clear win with 51% of the vote over incumbent Alicia Rule. And Dan Johnson and Kyle Christensen received nearly 52% over two newcomers to the race Joe Timmons and Richard May.
What happened in 2022?
How could an election turn so dramatically between the first part of August and November 8th. In the state Senate race a landslide of the votes coming in between the Primary and General would have to have occurred.
How could a lead of 3028 votes by Republicans in the Primary disappear to a 905 vote lead for the Democrats in the general.
The Change had to come mostly from “additional” voters, who voted in the General but not in the Primary. In both 2020 and 2022 this was the case.
Primary to General Vote in 42nd made the difference to the Democratic Party’s surprise win.
In 2022 the vote difference between the Primary and the General was 25518 votes… If we assume this to be the “new” election for the 42nd. ;the Democrats took a 16% swing into election night in November. Anyone would define that as a landslide if it wasn’t only a part of the election cycle (those voters who did not vote in the primary and only voted in the General Election).
But where do these votes come from and why didn’t they vote in the Primary. AND IS the 42nd district really a 58 plus percentage Democrat district as the breakdown of the “Primary to General” Numbers show.
Obviously the Northern Whatcom County Legislative District is not a solid 58% Democrat district ,the overall General Election percentage in the 42nd Senate Race ended up a 50.5% to 49.35% Democrat win.
But those that voted From the “Primary to General” (Move ins; Voter transfers, new registers and those not voting as a habit in Primaries) got to the polls for the Democrats as the results above show.
Three areas of the 42nd District give a better understanding of the communities in the District.
Defined as:
- Rural,
- Small Towns (Blaine, Everson, Ferndale, Lynden, Nooksack and Sumas included),
- City Limits of Bellingham.
A Smaller overall turnout in Bellingham City Limits is normal in the Primary and a larger turnout of the City can be partially explained with the return of the “mobile” population in the fall.
Turnout for the Primary compared to the “Primary to General” election and the General election were as Follows:
The Primary to General Demographics: The “New Election”
The overall General Election voting trend followed the national trend where the 18 to 35 Year old turn out was much greater than in the Primary election.
Of the number that turned out in the “Primary to General” election(25852 voters)…in Bellingham alone the Count of the “Primary to General” Election shows that nearly 41% of the turnout there was under 35 while the over 65 number was about 14%.
This more than reversed the numbers in the Primary(52,809 votes) where the age group numbers were:
18 to 35 Year Old in Bellingham just over 20%.
and the Over 65 years old 36%.
The Republicans incapability to come up with campaign issues that spoke to the 18 to 35 group allowed the Democrats to take this age group between the Primary and the General and thus win all three legislative seats in District 42.
Read more at
The Tax Man Cometh (by 20 votes).
Bob,
There are two sides to every story. Lots went on that many people don’t know about. Beyond that, local Republicans need to do that, and the folks at the Precinct level are working on that. Perhaps you can support some things like telling our Election Division, elections@co.whatcom.wa.us that you want citizens to be able to vote in person, with a paper ballot on election day… showing gov issued ID and that you want Whatcom County votes to be hand counted… We can make a difference as individuals and together. I would encourage you to join the WCRP this year and find out how our new Chairman is leading us back to Republican Victory… also, maybe consider running to be on a school board so kids minds don’t get poisoned with CRT race hate and perverted sex education… You can make a difference, or help someone else to. Best Wishes in any endeavors that you pursue to take back our county and our country!
Bob, Ben and I did support Simon after the primary. Ben gave a very moving speech at the kickoff in August supporting Simon and I directly supported Simon at debates and events I invited him to. Simon and his campaign team were inexperienced and were out gunned by national organizations working for the Dems. These two organizations were working for Alicia Rule – https://www.Argo.us/ and https://cn4partners.com. You can look this stuff up on the PDC reports. Simon had local talent.
I tend to agree with Herb. Yeah, I can kind of agree that one has to hold back a bit when encountering an idealogue, but I’m not afraid to state my case either. LIberals/progressives tend to believe that pointing out the problem is sufficient, then point to some mythical government superman to solve it. They arent very good at execution. Shewmake is a good example. Her solution to crime is more psych beds and drug treatment. Ok, long term, but unless these folks are chained to the bed 24/7 they are still out there looking for trouble. Nobody in the press or even our party asked the simple question as how are more beds gonna solve the problem, I guess in her world the solution to the guy breaking into my house at 3 am is to say to the guy “hey treatment center is just a block away, go forth and burgle no more”. Again, we dropped the ball. Certainly the Herald or the Cascadia Daily and Sefzik did not press such a challenge to her.
To rally the 18 to 35 year olds I would suggest the Republican party needs to exploit all the Democratic party corruption, being exposed of late.
The “Twitter Files” are showing us how deeply embedded this corruption is.
The Hunter Biden laptop story and the ridiculous Covid 19 response are just two examples of massive corruption and censorship.
The Republicans must do their part and keep their noses clean and become the party of character and truth.
It’s not a quick fix but I believe if we stay strong and resolute the tide can turn.
Are people in Whatcom aware of Cody Harts efforts? He has a channel on Rumble. He has 5 counties including Whatcom in a suit and moving forward. And the Auditors will be deposed soon. Our Auditor has to answer under oath. She needs to know there are Whatcom residents who do doubt our election results. A few calls into her will make her realize Whatcom conservatives are not asleep. There are over 2,000 illegals registered to vote in Whatcom…
Also, the Brunson case before SCOTUS. We need to send our letters to SCOTUS and the Brunsons.
Send letters of support. It would boot Patty Murray etc out so fast…God at work in this case.
I also think all that WE Will crap we had here was all a counter op to distract we conservatives of Whatcom. Elections in Washington have been rigged for decades. The covid BS was a diversion tactic to aid in the election theft.
It looks like Whatcom County is becoming bluer and bluer. It is so discouraging to see the change within the last 10-15 years. From my perspective, there are two reasons why: First: there are many Republicans that are not voting, period. Call it apathy, indifference, or defeatism. Second: the under 35 crowd has chosen to embrace the progressive, entitlement agenda. Common sense and traditional values are foreign to the overwhelming majority of this younger generation. The only way we will be able to triumph in the future, will be first, to find a way to motivate the first group to become more involved and second, to bring about a cataclysmic shift in the thinking of the 18-35 crowd. However, it will take a miracle of Providence in order for those two things to happen. Sadly, I don’t have a great deal of hope that this will happen. Consequently, we are left with two choices: One, accept and resign yourself to the fact that you will always be a political minority in an increasingly leftist society. The other will be to move to a conservative state where common sense, patriotism, and traditional values are still embraced. Many have opted for the latter and for some that have chosen to stay, they have undergone a political lobotomy in order to maintain their emotional and mental sanity for the sake of their family and friends.
With all due respect, you can chew on the numbners all day, but Sefziks loss with an 800 vote margin, the loss is totally on Ben. He split the party. Furthermore, neither Kershner or Tyler supported Sefzik or Kamal. Where were you Kathy, Ben and Tyler?
This was a very important election to lose. Had Ben been gracious enough to acknowledge Simons win in the primary and worked for his election, the result would have been different. Furthermore, Simon was not prepared for the hostile Cascadia Daily interview and as a result, got creamed by the editor. This is on the local party for, again, not supporting him even though he had full support from the WA State Party.
The Whatcom Democrats know how to win elections.
With this election result, its clear that the Whatcom Republicans are a total mom and pop operation and once again, we beat ourselves.