Rud Browne withdraws from state senate race

Current Whatcom County Council chair Rud Browne has withdrawn from the race for the 40th district state senate seat.

Browne said that he will instead be spending time with his family and continuing to work on the local issues that he is passionate about.

“In the last two years, my primary focus has been to help youth experiencing homelessness, by removing one of the primary barriers which disproportionately keeps LGBTQ and minorities trapped on the streets – an inability to obtain state-issued ID,” said Browne in a May 20 press release. “This, along with my passion to expand apprenticeship opportunities and address our ever-increasing water-related issues, motivated me to step forward for the 40th district senate seat.”

Now, instead of running for the seat, Browne will be endorsing another candidate, Elizabeth (Liz) Lovelett. Browne said he recently reached out to Lovelett, who shared his concerns for the same issues. “After a good discussion, I have decided to endorse her campaign for the 40th district senate seat, as she has also served in local government, which I believe is prerequisite to being an effective state legislator,” said Browne.

This race is to fill a one-year term, requiring an immediate run again in 2020. Browne recently conducted campaigns in 2017, for his second term on Whatcom County Council, and in 2018, for the open state house seat vacated by Kris Lytton.

Browne is not the only candidate for this race to have withdrawn from it. Michael Petrish also withdrew from the race on May 20, the same day that Browne took his name out of the hat.

Four candidates are now left in the race: Liz Lovelett, Daniel Miller, Carrie Blackwood and Greta Aitken. Lovelett, Blackwood and Aitken prefer the Democratic party, while Miller prefers the Republican party.

The 40th district includes San Juan County as well as portions of Whatcom and Skagit counties. The state senate seat was previously occupied by Orcas Island’s Kevin Ranker, who resigned days before the start of the 2019 legislative session due to an investigation into allegations of improper conduct. According to an Associated Press report, the state senate hired an investigator in October 2018 to investigate claims made by Ann Larson, who served as Ranker’s legislative assistant for a year. Larson said she dealt with sexual harassment and a hostile workplace while working for Ranker during the 2010 legislative session.

In early February, Anacortes city councilmember Liz Lovelett was sworn in as Ranker’s temporary replacement. Lovelett was selected after Democrats in the 40th legislative district picked three finalists to replace Ranker. The finalists were interviewed in front of Whatcom, Skagit and San Juan County councilmembers, who ultimately decided to appoint Lovelett.

In that process, Browne was not allowed to be nominated, due to a state attorney general’s opinion from 1987 stating that sitting county commissioners and councilmembers were not eligible. To become eligible, Browne could have resigned his seat before the nomination process started.

According to his official Whatcom County Council bio, Browne is an entrepreneur who started The Ryzex Group. He built Ryzex into a multinational mobile technology solutions company, growing it to $75 million in annual revenues and providing employment for 360 people, including 140 in Whatcom County. He sold Ryzex in 2011 and is now founder and CEO of Ryanna Capital LLC, a local company focused on supporting other entrepreneurs and innovative business models.