After 10th District Rep. Barry Sehlin, R-Oak Harbor, decided to retire, it didn’t take long for others to announce they want to take his place in the State House.

Announced candidates are Chris Strow, a Republican who lives in Clinton, Nancy Conard, a Democrat who is mayor of Coupeville, and Gina Bull, an Oak Harbor School District employee. For the other 10th District House seat, only incumbent Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, has filed as of this week.

Coupeville’s mayor jumps in House race

Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard isn’t letting a little thing like cancer stop her from pursuing a political career in the Washington State Legislature.

Conard, 51, learned last August that she had breast cancer. She had surgery, just completed chemotherapy which required her to drive to Everett every day for many weeks, and she still has an 11-week course of radiation therapy ahead of her.

But, listening to Conard, one would think she was dealing with a hangnail. “I’ve talked to my doctors and there’s no reason I can’t do this,” she said of her run for the 10th District House seat being vacated by Barry Sehlin. “You’ve got to go on with life, and my prognosis is really good.”

Besides being Mayor of Coupeville for the past eight years, Conard has served as the Coupeville School District’s business manager since 1977, a position from which she retired in January. Presently, she spends about half her time at Town Hall working on city issues.

A Democrat, she has worked closely with State Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen on issues affecting Central Whidbey. This session, the pair managed to pass a bill exempting Coupeville from certain Growth Management Act requirements.

Coupeville is so important to Conard that she does not plan to resign as mayor if elected to the Legislature. She said she can legally do both jobs, and town council members support her intention to continue as mayor.

Describing herself as a fiscally conservative Democrat, Conard said she would like to see state education money better spent. Pointing to her long career as a school district business manager she said, “Maybe I can help with efficiencies so the dollars get spent in a better way.”

Escalating health care costs are another of Conard’s major concerns, and she said she won’t necessarily toe the Democratic party line which has stalled tort reform in recent sessions of the Legislature. “I’m pretty independent,” she said.

Conard, who is divorced, has lived in Coupeville for 50 of her 51 one years, as her family moved there when her Navy father was transferred to NAS Whidbey. While Oak Harbor is a Republican dominated city, Conard thinks her Navy ties and knowledge of the area will help in her campaign. She feels her experience working with local governments will serve her well in Olympia.

“I can work with them,” she said. “I’m a common sense type of person.”

Strow brings political experience to race

Chris Strow, a 34-year-old bachelor, has a long history in politics despite his relative youth. As a college student, he volunteered for then-State Senator Jack Metcalf, a position which he parlayed into a career in politics.

When Metcalf, a Langley Republican, was elected to Congress, Strow became his deputy chief of staff, later advancing to administrative assistant and chief of staff. Metcalf, a believer in term limits, stepped down in 2000 after three terms.

After Metcalf’s retirement, Strow remained in politics, working in Washington, D.C. for the Republican National Committee. He also did a stint as vice president of the National Transportation Trade Association before deciding to move back home to Whidbey Island and run for office, while also serving as a consultant for the Republican gubernatorial campaign of former State Sen. Dino Rossi.

Strow moved to Whidbey Island when his father, U.S. Navy Captain Peter Strow, was transferred to NAS Whidbey. Peter Strow went on to be elected as Island County District Court Judge.

Pointing to his political experience, Strow says he can immediately go to work if elected as state representative next November.

“I can hit the ground running in Olympia and be effective,” he said.

He adds that his experience in Washington, D.C. can be beneficial in the effort to keep NAS Whidbey off the 2005 base closure list, and he has connections at Homeland Security that could help this state negotiate realistic rules for ferry security.

If elected, he plans to work hard for “tort reform,” in an effort to reduce medical malpractice insurance costs for doctors. In addition, Strow doesn’t hesitate to take the no-new-taxes pledge made famous by the first President Bush.

“I won’t vote to raise taxes,” he said. “The government has lots of revenue.”

While he favors keeping a lid on state spending and making the state more business-friendly, he believes he can work to bring more state benefits to the 10th District.

“There is a responsibility to make sure your community is getting its fair share of resources,” he said.

Bull runs for 10th District house seat

Gina Bull, an employee of the Oak Harbor School District, is the third person to enter the race for the state House.

Bull, 44, is making her first run at public office, but she’s familiar with the marble halls in Olympia. She is the local representative of the Public School Employees union, and frequently lobbies legislators for her union.

“I’m not in awe of the process,” Bull said of the lawmakers in Olympia. “They’re just regular people.”

One thing Bull thinks she has going for her as a candidate is that she, too, is a “regular person.” She’s a 13-year veteran of the school district, where she is the advisor to the student body at Oak Harbor Middle School, and assistant to the vice-principal in charge of discipline. Her husband Ron Bull owns a small construction business, and they have put three children through Oak Harbor schools.

“I’d like for the ‘average Joe’ families to have a voice,” in Olympia, Bull said. “My resume shows my dedication to kids, in the PTA, Booster Club and sports. You have to have lived a balanced life.”

Bull describes herself as a working mom who knows the struggles that small business people face. She was raised on a wheat farm in Walla Walla, and still goes home every summer to drive a wheat truck. Her father, Bill Grant, represents the 16th District in the State House, where he is chairman of the Democratic Caucus.

With her background in family farming, family business and family rearing, Bull sees herself as a representative of the average person, someone “empowering people to make them think they can make a difference.”

Bull said she chose to run as a Democrat, but she isn’t close minded.

“I’ve never voted a straight ticket in my life,” she said.

The Democrats presently control the House, so Bull said being elected as one would be beneficial to the 10th District.

Bull expects a good race from fellow Democrat Nancy Conard, whom she recently met for the first time.

“I regret we’re running against each other,” she said. “But it’s going to be a nice race.”