SEQUIM — Jim McEntire would resign, while Steve Tharinger wouldn’t, at least not at first.
That’s how McEntire, a Port of Port Angeles commissioner, parted political ways this week with Tharinger, the Clallam County commissioner who along with McEntire are among the four anounced candidates for the 24th Legislative District seat being vacated by Democratic state Rep. Lynne Kessler of Hoquiam, who is retiring.
Democrat Jack Dwyer of Montesano (who is a local School Board member) and Republican Larry Carter of Port Ludlow also have announced their candidacy for Kessler’s seat, one of three legislative positions representing the 24th District, which covers Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County.
Filing week for elective office is June 7 through June 11. The top two vote-getters in the Aug. 17 primary will advance to the Nov. 2 general election regardless of party affiliation.
McEntire said this week he will resign his port commission seat if he makes it past the Aug. 17 primary and wins the Nov. 2 general election, while Tharinger has vowed to keep his position at least through 2011.
McEntire is a Republican and Tharinger is a Democrat.
Both are from Sequim.
They are similar in other respects.
They both serve in public office now.
They both now represent the same voters, those living in Sequim-area District 1, on their respective boards, port commissioners and Clallam County commissioners serve the entire county, and both the port and the county draw property taxes from the entire county.
“I do not want to be put some sort of a place where I’ve got to play Solomon between one constituency or another,” McEntire said Wednesday.
Two masters
“I want to be free to consider the totality of the 24th Legislative District’s needs without having to be feeling like I am serving two masters. It’s a house-divided-against-itself-cannot-stand type of situation.”
Tharinger became on Saturday the district’s Democratic Party’s nominee for the Aug. 17 primary.
Tharinger, in his third term as county commissioner, has said if he wins he would decide by June 2011 whether to run for a fourth term as county commissioner.
‘A good fit’
“I think it’s a good fit,” he said Wednesday of doing double-duty as a state legislator and county commissioner.
“I don’t look at it as two masters. You could argue Grays Harbor and Jefferson County get a fourth commissioner.”
Tharinger said that as a county commissioner, he constantly balances interests of Eastern Clallam County residents with those of West End residents in much the same way he would balance county interests with those statewide.
“It’s a good skill set,” he said. “It will be helpful to all three counties in the legislative district.”
McEntire, saying he came to his decision recently after discussing his options with his wife, Sherry, would not comment on the different courses of action he and Tharinger would take if one or the other wins.
“I can’t put myself in anyone else’s place,” McEntire said, though adding, “I’m not going to remove anything that needs to be talked about that on the voters’ mind before the fact.”
The legislative session is 60 days long in even-numbered years and 105 days in odd-numbered years such as 2011, when the Legislature approves a biennial budget.
State legislators attend meetings and meet with constituents year-round.
As a county commissioner, Tharinger said, he also already has the same kind of contact with constituents that he would as a state legislator, though he would pay more visits to Grays Harbor and Jefferson counties.
Tharinger, who earns $63,502 a year as a county commissioner, said he could participate in county commissioner meetings electronically while the state Legislature is in session.
McEntire, a retired Coast Guard captain, earns up to $12,384 annually as a port commissioner, depending on how many days he conducts port-related business.
State House and Senate members are paid $42,106 annually.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
