By Erasmus Baxter

It looks like transphobic, tax–payer–defrauding, racist-Facebook-post-making, climate-change-denying, Eric-Bostrom-associating state senator Doug Ericksen will face a challenger this fall.

In a video posted on the anniversary of the Womxn’s March, Bellingham City Council Member Pinky Vargas has announced she will be challenging Ericksen for the 42nd district legislative seat. The 42nd district includes downtown Bellingham north of State St., as well as parts of York, and most of north Bellingham and rural Whatcom County.

“[I’m] tired of Whatcom County not having any representation in the legislature,” Vargas said in an interview. She has heard from people throughout local government that they were lacking support in the legislature, she said.

Ericksen, the current legislator, has been criticized for taking a job in Trump’s EPA while still working as a state senator. Things did not go well and he left, but not before drawing pay for both positions simultaneously, including for daily expenses paid to state legislators.

The message from Ericksen is that he’s only in the state senate till he can get something better, Vargas said. In particular, she pointed to potential flood plain funding in the legislature as an area that Whatcom County had missed out on due to Ericksen’s lack of involvement.

Despite being gone for parts of the legislative session, Ericksen still arranged for a climate change denier to testify before a committee he oversaw.

Another area where Vargas drew a contrast with Ericksen was on civil rights. As well as voting against a bill to prevent horrific, anti-gay conversion therapy on people under 18 years old, Ericksen has been supporter of “bathroom bills” that discriminate against transgender people.

When asked about his support at a forum at Western in October, he said he wouldn’t want “that person going into a locker room with a bunch of 13 year-old girls.”

When read the quote, Vargas said people shouldn’t be judged for their gender identity.

“It makes me bow my head in shame that anyone would call someone a ‘that’,” Vargas said.

She thinks that her focus on civil rights, as well as immigrant rights, criminal justice reform and protecting the environment are issues that Western students can relate to. While she doesn’t have any specific plans, she is also interested in reducing tuition costs, she said.

“[We should have that] opportunity for anyone who wants to go to school,” she said.

After four years on the city council, including serving as council president in 2016, Vargas was re-elected unopposed in 2017. She has also worked at Puget Sound Energy since 2010, according to her LinkedIn.

If you’ve ever attended a city council meeting Vargas may be recognizable from her signature, pink clothing items.

The video announcing Vargas’ campaign begins with Vargas at last year’s Womxn’s March in Bellingham holding a sign and wearing a pink vest and a WILD pink hat (Seriously! Check the video out!).

“If you don’t like how your government looks, then change it,” she tells the crowd.

While Vargas had several hats to choose from, the one she wore is a gift from her cousin, she said.

That Vargas would have multiple pink hats to choose from would not surprise those who have seen her at city council meetings or at events wearing pink clothing. Pinky said she got the nickname because her love for the color pink from a young age.

“I like it, it makes me happy,” she said. “People are quite responsive to the color pink because it’s warm.”

When she turned 40 years old she decided to legally change her name from Tammy-May to Pinky, she said.

Vargas is the latest democratic challenger to take on Ericksen, a republican, for the seat.

In 2014, Ericksen defeated democrat Seth Fleetwood with 58.7 percent of the vote, or around 9,000 more votes. The Bellingham Herald called it one of the most expensive legislative races in Whatcom County history. Ericksen’s campaign spent over $466,000 compared to Fleetwood’s over $868,000. Independent expenditures supporting Ericksen totaled over $301,000 and around $50,000 for Fleetwood.

In 2010 Ericksen defeated democrat Pat Jerns by around 12,000 votes to win the seat with around 60 percent of the vote. Before that he was elected to the state house six times, starting in 1998.

Vargas’ campaign currently owes $3,500 to Cerillion N4 Partners, a Seattle-based political consulting firm that also worked on Fleetwood’s campaign. They also owe $250 to Blue Wave Political Partners, another Seattle-based democratic consulting firm, according to the latest Public Disclosure Commission filings.

Ericksen’s campaign, which has been in operation since 2015, has received $42,195.10 in contributions, the largest being from Chevron and other giant corporations. The campaign has spent around $11,400 on fundraising, polling, consulting and operational expenses such as phones and offices, according to the PDC.

Only time will tell if backlash against the Trump administration and Ericksen’s overall shittiness will help Vargas overcome Ericksen’s advantage as an incumbent, but if you want more information about Vargas’s campaign you can find it at at her website.

If you aren’t sure what district you live in you can check here. If you need to register to vote or update your address you can do that here.