Editor,
The primary election will be held Aug. 5. Soon we’ll be getting our ballots and information about who is running.
There is only one island-wide primary election, for Whidbey Island Public Hospital District (WhidbeyHealth) Commissioner 5. There are four candidates; we will select two of them to move on to the general election in November.
Three of the candidates have backgrounds in medicine, science, careers in public service and the military. You can read about them in the Voters’ Guide or contact them for more information.
However, one candidate, Ms. Morgan Cooper, failed to provide any information for the voters. I emailed Ms. Cooper twice, asking why she failed to provide basic information about herself.
I never heard back from her.
Myself and a majority of citizens want to make informed choices about who we’re voting for. Therefore, it is very troubling that Ms. Cooper thinks so little of the election process (and the voters) that she didn’t even bother to provide the basic information we need to make an informed decision!
Besides this failure, there are other things about Ms. Cooper that are troubling: in 2023 she was appointed to the hospital board while she was still vice-chair of the Island County Republican Party. Many people – including conservatives and at least one board member – questioned her political motivations for being on the board.
Also, when she ran in 2023 to keep her seat on the board, her lack of education and her lack of relevant experience became serious concerns for a majority of voters: she lost her seat on the board, getting only 30% of the votes!
To summarize: this election Ms. Cooper didn’t bother to provide the voters with even basic information about herself; she lost previously because a large majority of the voters didn’t trust her or didn’t think she was qualified.
I see no reason why anyone – no matter what their politics – would vote for Morgan Cooper or take her seriously; unless you think the invisible R after her name makes her a viable candidate.
David Freed
Clinton
