Inslee aide and far-right Republican compete for open Whatcom seat in House

An aide to Gov. Jay Inslee is facing a Republican former towing company operator who’s taken extreme and antisemitic positions on social media in the open 42nd District House Position 2 seat being vacated by state Rep. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham, who is running for state Senate.

Ballots in the state’s general election must be placed in an official drop box or postmarked, not simply mailed, by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8.

More than $1 million has been spent in the race between Democrat Joe Timmons of Bellingham and Republican Dan Johnson of Laurel as the GOP tries to reclaim a House seat in a district that’s been trending blue in recent elections and the Democrats work to keep it, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.

Washington’s 42nd Legislative District includes much of downtown Bellingham, the city’s northern neighborhoods and the rest of northern and eastern Whatcom County.

Timmons is serving as Inslee’s regional representative in Northwest Washington. He has degrees from Western Washington University and the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington.

He’s also on the board of the Bellingham Food Bank.

“I’m running to ensure that everyone in our community has equitable access to affordable housing across the housing continuum; living wage jobs in their communities; high-quality educational opportunities for learners of all ages; and reliable internet for connecting with jobs, school, and health care,” Timmons said at his website.

He cites his priorities as ensuring reproductive freedom, protecting the environment and addressing climate change, investing in behavioral health, economic development, transportation and housing affordability.

“We need to invest in housing so that workers can afford to live in our community, and we need to ensure that kids have access to high-quality childcare and early learning programs,” he said.

He’s endorsed by the Whatcom Democrats and 42nd District Democrats, Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Tribe. He’s also supported by a range of social justice and environmental organizations, including the Riveters Collective, Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice Washington, and the Sierra Club, as well as a range of unions that represent the building trades, firefighters, nurses, educators and office workers.

Timmons has raised $419,576 and spent $416,201 through Nov. 3, according to the PDC. More than $222,000 of Timmons’ fundraising is from political action committees, and about $92,000 comes from individual donations.

In addition, $165,331 was spent independently for Timmons’ campaign, most of it from the Democratic-leaning New Direction PAC. Some $38,238 was spent independently against Timmons, mostly by the GOP’s Evergreen Progress PAC, which has funded false claims about Timmons’ stand on abortion rights.

Johnson, former owner of Johnson’s Towing, was active in campaigns against drunken driving, and has been praised by law-enforcement agencies for those efforts.

For several months in 2020 and 2021, Johnson ran a vlog called “The Hook” on YouTube and other streaming services until it vanished from YouTube in early 2021 and from Spotify in September 2022 after a Bellingham Herald article cited antisemitic, sexist and extremist positions on the vlog and other public social media.

Johnson acknowledged the antisemitic remarks in a post on his campaign’s Facebook page, but he didn’t apologize specifically for an April 2020 meme that linked COVID-19 vaccine mandates to the Holocaust and didn’t explain why he made the post on the birthday of Adolf Hitler, who as the leader of Nazi Germany orchestrated a genocide against European Jews.

He also failed to address the sexist and extremist memes he posted on his public Facebook page before removing them a few days before The Herald’s story. Those included jokes that ridicule women, false and misleading information about COVID-19 and vaccines, and memes that appeared to support anti-government extremists such as David Koresh, Cliven Bundy and Randy Weaver.

“I decided to run for office because I was frustrated at the direction our state was going, with rising crime, and taxes going through the roof,” Johnson said at his campaign website.

“As your next representative, I will fight for policies to restore public safety at home so folks will actually want to invest here again. Together, we can make home a safer and better place,” he said at his campaign Facebook page.

In a series of videos on Facebook, he drives a truck around downtown Bellingham and criticizes the city, focusing on the RVs that line the south end of Cornwall Avenue and a vacant block of Railroad Avenue, where fires claimed several long-time businesses.

Johnson is endorsed by the Whatcom Republicans, Sheriff Bill Elfo, and the mayors of Sumas, Everson, Nooksack and Lynden.

He has raised $357,423 and spent $344,490 through Nov. 3, according to the PDC.

In addition, $4,804 was spent independently for Johnson’s campaign by the GOP’s Evergreen Progress PAC and $106,903 was spent against Johnson by the New Direction PAC.