PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Commissioner Mike Chapman quietly has declared officially he’ll seek re-election — as a Republican.
Although Chapman didn’t — and likely wouldn’t — say it, his action late last week threw down a challenge to the county Republican party that had withdrawn its support from his campaign.
Chapman, the county’s highest-ranking elected official with an R appended to his name, briefly thought of running as an independent candidate.
He decided to maintain his party affiliation after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated Washington’s top-two primary election system last month.
That scheme allows voters to cross party lines and vote for candidates regardless of political party. The top two vote-getters proceed to the general election.
Assuming Chapman retains the broad support he has enjoyed in his previous two campaigns — he had no opponent in 2004 —he could face an independent or minor-party candidate, a Democrat or another Republican.
