5th District Democrats Censure Tom And Tim

 

The Democrats from Washington's 5th Legislative District met Wednesday, January 16 to reorganize after a 2012 election cycle that saw Barak Obama elected President, Jay Inslee elected Governor and Mark Mullet elected to be the first Democrat elected to represent the district in 20 years.  Mullet is our State Senator.
The body voted to censure Senators Rodney Tom (above) of Medina and Tim Sheldon of Potlatch for a moving to cross party lines and sabotage the Democrats hard earned majority.  Because of the move, Tom is Majority Leader and Sheldon is President Pro Tem.   Tim Shelden has long been a headache for Senate Democrats, but Rodney Tom, who switched from the Republican Party in '08, was a surprise as he had been known to support Democratic causes in the past.
The 5th also retained Jim Baum, who was challenged by former 45th District Chair Martin Cheney.  Cheney will represent the 5th on the King County Central Committee along with Barbara Rakita.  I was able to retain my position as State Committeeman along with Judith Shattuck who will be 5th District State Committeewoman for the first time.

Jim Baum Will Chair 5th District Democrats

Maple Valley Farmer and building inspector Jim Baum can add another title to his resume, the chair of the 5th District Democrats. The 5th is a sprawling legislative district covering the cities of Sammamish, Issaquah, Renton, Maple Valley, Fall City, Preston, North Bend and points in between. Baum became something of a celebrity last year for organizing the Seattle version of Jon Stewart's "Rally To Restore Sanity".
While Baum's selection to the Chair at the January 19th re-org meeting was by acclamation, there were some vigorous challenges to some of the other elected positions. Baum and the other elected officials will serve 2 year terms.