Brook Pell has had it with Washington and Liz Pike is recruiting candidates
Bye, Brook.
The most recent newsletter for the Clark County Republican Women contained two items that stood out.
Brook Pell, a Clark County Republican activist and recent contender for county council, is moving away after becoming completely fed up with Washington’s gun-grabbing socialists and unprincipled Republicans. The Republican group is also launching an effort to recruit “qualified, conservative candidates” to run for nominally nonpartisan positions in local government.
In the newsletter letter, Pell cited the passage of gun control Initiative 1639, the state’s new mandatory paid-sick law, as well as legislation currently being considered that would ban plastic bags, eliminate the death penalty and remove the personal waiver for the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella.
She also called out Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins, a Republican, for agreeing to enforce I-1639, unlike many of his counterparts across the state. While not mentioning him by name, she called out state Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, for sponsoring the vaccine waiver legislation, which she described as “anti-freedom.”
“For years my husband and I have talked about moving our family to a more Republican friendly state,” wrote Pell. “In the past, we’ve stayed to fight the good fight. But, this year is different. Between the landscape in state and local government and our high school children coming home with complaints of their teachers bashing our President, we’ve finally had enough. It’s time for us to go.”
Earlier this year, Pell applied for the seat on the Clark County Council vacated by Eileen Quiring after she began her term as council chair. Despite an initial endorsement from Quiring, the council voted unanimously to appoint former California Superior Court Judge Gary Medvigy to the seat. Pell worked on Quiring’s campaign for chair. She also worked on Elisabeth Veneman’s unsuccessful bid for county council last year and Kris Greene’s campaign for Vancouver port commission in 2017.
I reached out to Pell to see where she’s moving too and will update this blog if I hear back.
In other Republican Party news, former state Rep. Liz Pike will take over for Pell as president of Clark County Republican Women later this month.
Liz Pike is staying busy after retiring from the Legislature.
Pike, who serves as one of the group’s vice presidents, had an article in the newsletter announcing that the Clark County Republican Women “is launching one of its most important committees ever.” According to the newsletter, the Candidate Recruitment Operation Program committee will find conservative candidates for local school boards and city councils. In addition to recruiting for these positions, many of which will be on ballots later this year, the committee will also seek candidates for library district boards, fire district and port district commissions, according to Pike.
In the newsletter, Pike mentioned how school boards in Clark County have “approved labor agreements that create multi-million dollar school district deficits.” She also mentioned the Drag Queen Story Hour hosted last month at the Vancouver Community Library. The event has drawn backlash and Pike criticized it as promoting “alternative lifestyles.”
“If you reject these policies, you can begin to reverse the trend by getting elected to these community boards,” she wrote.
