PORT TOWNSEND — One of the three Jefferson County sheriff candidates on the primary ballot has withdrawn from the race after failing to receive the endorsement of the county Democratic Party.
David Stanko, 66, suspended his candidacy on Thursday members of the county Democratic Party voted to endorse Wendy Davis, 47, for the position.
About 120 people — 103 of them voting party members — gathered at the Tri-Area Community Center in Chimacum on Tuesday night.
The motion to endorse Davis, a Democrat and a former Bremerton and Poulsbo police officer, carried with 72 votes with 29 opposed.
The remaining candidate is Ken Przygocki, 63, who has no party affiliation.
Stanko’s name will be on the Aug. 5 primary ballot. The primary will winnow contenders down to the top two vote-getters, who will advance to the Nov. 4 general election.
Since Stanko is suspending his campaign, he feels it is unlikely that he will place in the primary “because both Wendy and Ken will be campaigning hard” but if he advances to the general election, “I will make a decision what to do at that time.”
Stanko said that he will endorse neither Davis nor Przygocki, who is retired from the State Patrol, prior to the primary election.
Stanko said that he was disappointed by the endorsement decision, and that he perceives the sheriff’s office as a nonpartisan position.
“I’m disappointed there is a party presence in this selection process,” he said.
Stanko, who was selected the 2012 Business Leader of the Year by the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, retired as a lieutenant at the Fullerton, Calif., police department in 2004 and moved to Cape George.
He is past president of Port Townsend Rotary, a driver for Ecumenical Christian Helping Hands Organization — known as ECCHO — as well as a member of the United Good Neighbors board of directors, a member of Calvary Church and a participant in the work of the Community Outreach Association Shelter Team, or COAST, at the Port Townsend homeless shelter.
“I’ll still be around,” he said Friday.
“I’m still involved with Rotary, I’m still driving for ECCHO and I’m still in the community.”
________
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
