April 25, 2020
Thirty seven candidates have filed to run for the 24 delegate slots to represent the 3rd LD at the State Convention and Congressional District Caucus. The Co-Chairs of the State Party Rules Committee determined on the afternoon of April 25th that candidates who timely filed their candidacy in the wrong Legislative District (about 2 percent of the total number of candidates who filed) should be "cured" and placed on the ballot in the Legislative District in which they should have filed.
The election for the 24 delegate positions will be held virtually, starting on Sunday morning, April 26 and continuing through 5:00 pm on Sunday, May 3, 2020. Voters are the elected and appointed Democratic Precinct Committee Officers of the 3rd Legislative District.
A complete list of candidates, sorted by presidential preference, may be found here.
Legislative district-level delegates are elected by presidential preference. Based on the results of the March 10 presidential primary election in the 3rd Legislative District, Bernie Sanders was allocated 14 LD-level delegates and 7 alternates and Joe Biden was allocated 10 LD-level delegates and 5 alternates.
Nineteen candidates filed for the Sanders-allocated delegate and alternate positions and 18 candidates filed for the Biden-allocated delegate and alternate positions.
State Party rules require gender-identification to be declared by each candidate for a delegate position and each LD's delegation must be gender-balanced to the extent possible. Of the 37 delegate candidate filings, 24 were from male-identifying candidates, 13 were from female-identifying candidates, and there were no gender non-binary-identifying candidates.
The female-identifying candidates for Biden will be automatically elected to represent that presidential preference.
The 8 female-identifying candidates for Sanders will compete for 7 Sanders-allocated delegate positions and the remaining female-identifying candidate will serve as a Sanders alternate.
Thirteen male-identifying Biden candidates will compete for 5 Biden delegate positions and the 5 Biden alternate positions.
Eleven male-identifying Sanders candidates will compete for 7 Sanders delegate positions and the remaining male-identifying candidates will serve as Sanders alternates.
Elected delegates will represent the 3rd Legislative District at the 5th Congressional District Caucus, which will conduct a virtual election to elect 2 Sanders delegates and 2 Biden delegates to the National Convention, scheduled to be held in Milwaukee in mid-August. The LD-level delegates will also represent the 3rd Legislative District at the State Convention, currently scheduled as an in-person meeting in Tacoma in mid-June (but subject to science-based orders from Governor Inslee that may impact the ability of large groups to hold meetings in the future.)
Candidates for National Delegate and Alternate positions have until 5:00 pm on May 4, 2020 to have a Letter of Intent received at the State Party indicating their candidacy. In addition to the National Delegates to be selected at virtual Congressional District Caucuses near the end of May, statewide delegates and alternates are scheduled to be chosen in mid-June. The May 4 deadline for Letters of Intent to be received by the State Party applies to all National Delegate and Alternate positions.
Third Legislative