A former leader in the Clark County Republican Party received a censure over her endorsement of Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in last year’s election.
On Feb. 14, the Clark County Republican Central Committee announced it had voted to censure Kathy McDonald the prior week. McDonald served as the party’s vice chair before she resigned from that position ahead of the November election.
McDonald remains the Republican Precinct Committee Officer (PCO) for Clark County Precinct 104. The resolution to censure her stated that while she was a PCO, McDonald “cosponsored and publicly invited Republican guests to participate in a fundraiser” for Gluesenkamp Perez, just weeks before the Democrat won the seat in the Third Congressional District.
The party central committee unanimously endorsed Republican Joe Kent during a quarterly business meeting on Aug. 9, the resolution stated.
The resolution cites central committee bylaws that state an active office of the party cannot “(m)ake a formal, public endorsement in a third-party publication for a candidate of a competing party when there exists an endorsed Republican candidate.”
McDonald was one of a handful of past Republican supporters in the Third Congressional District who spoke to The Seattle Times for an article about her decision to support Gluesenkamp Perez.
McDonald did not approve of Kent’s “extreme rhetoric,” The Seattle Times reported. That approach would not address local concerns like replacing the aging Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River, she told the newspaper.
The Republican central committee’s resolution stated McDonald’s actions “greatly contributed” to Kent’s loss in November. Gluesenkamp Perez won the seat by less than a percentage point.
The committee has asked McDonald to resign from her position as PCO. If she refuses, her censure means she cannot have the floor nor participate in voting, the resolution stated.
“Party discipline is a rare and serious event and the (central committee) does not entertain these matters lightly,” Clark County Republican Party Chairman Matt Bumala stated in the release announcing the censure.
