Via email:

Here’s a report on the nominating convention for the 3rd CD Democrats:

It was handled fairly professionally. Some of the speakers who were asked to say a few words of welcome were wearing Baird stickers on their chests and one of them was Paul Barendt, who later did the speech for Brian. So, that appeared to have been an advantage to Brian. Brian wasn’t there…he’s in the Middle East again.

Dwight led the meeting and it went smoothly. We were allowed to have two observers watch the ballot counting. One was Robert Martindale and he said sometimes things went too fast for him to really see what was happening. But in general, it looked like a fair process.

Many PCO’s that I thought would be there for me stayed away or didn’t find their way to the right room. The nominating convention was not held in the gymnasium as was indicated on the postcard that some PCO’s received. I did not receive one (I have been a PCO since January) and neither did Chris Sterns and other progressives. I know nothing about how it was determined who would be invited by postcard.

Here is the result we were given: PCO’s who voted: 83. Votes for Baird: 59 Votes for Crist: 24 The weighted total was 422 to 115.

I feel pretty good about it. It means that 29% of voting PCO’s chose me after just four months of campaigning.

The process is flawed in that no mail vote was allowed or e-mail vote. To have to travel there from Skamania County or Pacific and Wahkiakum Counties was a hardship for some PCO’s especially those who are older or frail. I would suggest a notarized ballot by mail be used in the future, if we do this again.

I feel like we are learning a lot. That was good practice for me at speaking in front of a crowd, even though it wasn’t the big 3rd CD crowd…it was just the PCO’s who knew to go to the library. During that half hour I don’t know what was going on in the gymnasium where the 3rd CD delegates were meeting.

It’s okay with me for you to share this report with anyone who is interested. Thank you for all you do!

Peace and friendship,

Cheryl