PORT TOWNSEND – Longtime Port of Port Townsend Commissioner Bob Sokol pulled out of a four-way race for his seat on Thursday.
He threw his support behind port commission candidate Frank Benskin.
“He’s a fiscal conservative with an eye for the future,” Sokol said of Benskin, who is finishing his last year of a four-year term on the Port Townsend City Council.
“He’s somebody entering the race that I would feel comfortable endorsing.”
Sokol said if Benskin had filed his candidacy the first day of filing week instead of at the last minute on June 8, that he would not have sought re-election.
“I have known Frank for several years, have watched him as a full-term council member, and fully believe that he would serve Jefferson County well as a port commissioner,” Sokol said.
Sokol, 71, is serving his 12th year on the port commission after being elected to three terms.
