The last time Washington voters elected a Democrat to the Secretary of State’s office was 1960, when Vic Meyers was reelected to a second term in office. That was sixty-two years ago. Since then, this office has been held continuously by Republicans, until Kim Wyman, a Republican who was reelected in 2020, resigned to take a position in the Biden Administration.

Democratic Governor Jay Inslee appointed Dem. State Senator Steve Hobbs to temporarily fill the position until election day making Hobbs our first Democratic Secretary of State since Vic Meyers. This Election Day, November 8th, a special election will be held to decide who will serve out the rest of Wyman’s term. Hobbs is facing a challenge from an independent candidate, Julie Anderson, a former Pierce County Auditor.

The most important duty of the Secretary of State in Washington is to administer and oversee elections. Most of these elections are between Republican and Democratic candidates, yet the Secretary of State has always been held by someone from one of these two parties. Julie Anderson’s main pitch to voters in this election is that the Secretary of State shouldn’t be a partisan position. At a time when faith in our democratic system is at an all-time low and the legitimacy of our elections is being questioned at every turn, an independent elections administration is a key bulwark of our democracy.

To be clear, Democrats are far from the ones who are trying to delegitimize and take control of our elections. In fact, Democratic officials, with the help of a small number of courageous Republicans, have been critical in upholding our democratic process and ensuring the peaceful transfer of power. The threats to our democracy have largely come from the other side of the aisle. Around the country, Republican candidates in key races have refused to acknowledge the results of the 2020 election, and some have refused to say whether they would even accept the results if they lost their races this November 8th.

For example, Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidates for Governor in Arizona and Pennsylvania, have both blatantly questioned the legitimacy of the 2022 election and spread doubt and disinformation about our system. Obviously, our democracy would benefit from having nonpartisan officials administering elections rather than election deniers. However, Democrats can hardly expect Republicans to back such candidates in states where they are dominant if Democrats will not do so where they hold the advantage.

It is time for Democrats to lead by example and strengthen our election system by electing a non-partisan secretary of state. It’s important to note that picking an independent over a Democrat is not compromising on the issues of voting rights and election integrity, and we are not weakening our position in the fight for our Democracy. On some issues, like partisan gerrymandering, Democrats have been forced to play dirty to prevent Republicans from completely rigging the system, but election administration is not one of those issues. Julie Anderson will fight just as hard to protect our system from election deniers as Steve Hobbs will, and she will help normalize nonpartisan election administration.