Port of Bellingham Commissioner Michael Shepard and Blaine School Board director Erika Creydt recently announced runs for the 42nd Legislative District Senate seat.
Last week, Blaine School Board director, third-generation Blaine resident and Republican Erika Creydt announced her run against Port of Bellingham Commissioner and Democrat Michael Shepard for the 42nd Legislative District Senate seat of Sharon Shewmake, who won’t seek a third term in 2026.
Shepard was just re-elected to a four-year term at the port, however, and is also an anthropology professor at Western Washington University. If Shepard were to win state office this November, would he be able to juggle all those responsibilities if he wanted to? And is such a thing even legal?
The rules of incompatibility
More than half of U.S. states currently prohibit state lawmakers from holding another elected office. But Washington isn’t one of those states, meaning state lawmakers can legally hold city or county positions while working in Olympia.
Other simultaneous office-holding situations are deemed illegal by the state through a court-created legal document known as the Doctrine of Incompatible Offices.
The doctrine doesn’t prevent someone from running for incompatible offices, just from holding both at the same time, according to information from the Seattle-based Municipal Research and Services Center.
A candidate’s name, however, can’t appear more than once on a single ballot other than for temporary elected positions like charter review board member or precinct committee officers, meaning the same person can’t be elected to two positions in the same election, even if those positions can be held simultaneously.
Anyone elected to a second office, rendering both their offices incompatible, would then have to choose between the two. The state legislature also has override capability of the doctrine, meaning it can adopt additional statues for a particular situation.
So what’s off-limits in our state?
A city council member, for example, cannot also serve as a port commissioner if the port is within that city’s limits, since land use or zoning decisions made by the council will directly affect the port.
Other examples for Washington cities and towns include mayors with city councils being unable to hold additional government employment or office within their municipalities. Supreme and superior court judges also can’t hold additional nonjudicial public office or employment during their terms.
In Bellingham’s city charter, no elected officers can hold additional office within the city, and civil service commissioners can’t hold other city jobs or represent labor unions representing city employees.
In Whatcom County, the executive, county council, assessor, auditor, treasurer, sheriff and prosecuting attorney are all banned from holding additional office.
In contrast, a state lawmaker focuses their efforts on general purpose legislation affecting the entire state, not just the district they represent, meaning that many public offices are compatible with that of the role of state senator or representative.
The decision to serve
In an interview with Salish Current, Shepard said that after nine years of public service at the port, he’s running for state office mainly because of what he hears from constituents: concerns about the cost of living.
“I think that’s squarely aligned with the work the port does,” he said. “I really just think it’s a good time for me to leverage that experience, to address what I think is really a clear voter concern in our district and around the country.”
In a Facebook post announcing his run, Shepard wrote that in addition to affordability, he plans to invest in public schools and protect the environment. He also hopes to “roll up (his) sleeves” and deliver a regional aquatic center to Whatcom County.
Creydt wrote in a social media post that her work as a clinical psychologist specializing in youth mental health drove her to run for Senate. She’s focused on government transparency and good stewardship of tax dollars.
Shepard said embarking on a state senate campaign was not originally on his schedule this year, but when Shewmake informed him she would not seek reelection, he decided running in 2026 would work for him and his family, and hopefully, would keep her Senate seat in capable and experienced hands in what has, in the past, been a competitive swing district.
Shepard said that if he wins in November, he will resign from his position at the port.
“It’s legally possible for someone to do both, but I think it’s practically insane to try to do that,” he said. “Both jobs are demanding in their own right.”
If Shepard vacates his port seat, the newly-expanded port commission will solicit interested applicants for the position before selecting one to serve out the remainder of Shepard’s four-year term. Regarding his university job, Shepard added that he would abide by the same schedule that Shewmake — a Western economics professor — keeps: teaching classes in quarters where the legislature isn’t in-session and focusing solely on Olympia business when it is.
“I — and I think many people in the community — expect that whoever is in our senate and delegation leadership in the 42nd district gives it their all,” Shepard said. “They should be there for voters. They should be advocating for the needs of our community, and showing up to do the work. And that’s certainly what I plan to do.”
The road ahead
For now, Shepard is focused on performing his port duties in a year which will see the hiring of a new executive director and the official expansion of the port commission from three to five districts.
Voters asked for change and transparency, he said, and he intends to help deliver on that goal. Should he find himself resigning from the port at year’s end, Shepard said he is available to speak with any potential replacements about what to expect of the office and how best to govern.
In the meantime, he will continue building a state senate campaign platform and has already collected several endorsements. They include several city council members, Whatcom County council members Barry Buchanan, Kaylee Galloway and Todd Donovan, Blaine Mayor Mary Lou Steward and County Executive Satpal Sidhu.
“We’re going to run a solid campaign, no matter what happens,” Shepard said.
— Matt Benoit
Also read in Salish Current
• “Is the future of Bellingham’s Port five or three commissioners?” Jan. 14, 2025
• “From the Editor’s Desk: Fact-checking state Senate candidates,” Sept. 2, 2022
• “Youth has its day and its say in 42nd District Senate vacancy vote,” Jan. 13, 2022
• “How many port commissioners to best serve Whatcom County?” June 17, 2021