Blaine, Birch Bay and Custer voted for Republicans across the board

Whatcom County election data shows a growing Democratic majority in the county, but The Northern Light’s readership area  of Blaine, Birch Bay and Custer continues to trend red, as it did in 2016.

Closing in on the county record of 87.9 percent from 2008, voter turnout has reached 87.6 percent this year (all ballots have yet to be counted). There were about 139,100 ballots cast in Whatcom County, according to data from the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office. This is about a 20 percent increase (more than 24,000 additional voters) from 2016 turnout, which was 114,920.

While the county voted two Democrats, Blaine councilwoman Alicia Rule and incumbent Sharon Shewmake, into the two 42nd Legislative District seats in tight races and preferred former vice president Joe Biden and governor Jay Inslee by about 60 percent margins, local voters in the Blaine, Birch Bay and Custer area favored Republicans, similarly to 2016 and 2018.

As seen around the country, the densely populated areas, like Blaine city limits and the Birch Bay Village, went blue, while the surrounding rural areas — making up the majority in this case — voted Republican. In general, precincts to the east are more likely to vote red.

In the presidential election, former vice president Joe Biden received 37.2 percent more Whatcom County votes than Hillary Clinton in 2016 (82,809 in 2020 vs. 60,340 in 2016), while President Donald Trump also gained 23.3 percent more votes in his favor (50,041 in 2020 vs. 40,599 in 2016). Locally, Trump received 32.1 percent more votes than 2016 (8,500 in 2020 vs. 6,435 in 2016).

Inslee gained support in the county with a 30 percent vote increase (81,204 in 2020 vs. 62,634 in 2016). The governor gained about 2,000 votes, locally, but still received an unfavorable 44 percent against Loren Culp.

Rep. Luanne Van Werven, who defended her seat in 2018 by a narrow margin of less than 100 votes, lost to Rule by 2,108 votes. In Blaine, Birch Bay and Custer, however, she received 2,190 more votes than Rule. Rep. Shewmake similarly won by 3,134 votes, but area voters preferred challenger Jennifer Sefzik.

However, in the District 1 congressional race, the county swung red, preferring challenger Jeffrey Beeler, Sr., over U.S. congresswoman Suzan DelBene. Beeler received almost 6,000 more votes in Whatcom County and about 1,300 more locally, but DelBene was reelected by a 58.7 percent majority (245,603 vs. 172,058 votes). The border of Washington’s first congressional district lines the U.S./Canadian border in Whatcom County and spans as far south as Snoqualmie Pass.