Mike Bonin remains in middle of City Council race, though he dropped out 9 months ago
Mike Bonin is running for Congress, but a federal judge’s ruling on Tuesday means he can’t run as a Republican as he had planned. We learned the news on Monday afternoon.
Bonin ran as an independent candidate before he decided to enter a special election to pick up a House seat in a heavily Democratic district. He then lost the special election, despite winning the primary election by 20 points.
But the judge’s ruling — in a case that was argued last year — means Bonin can only run as a Democrat and not a Republican.
“This means the campaign, which was based on my candidacy as a candidate for Congress, has come to an end,” Bonin wrote us in an email. “I did not run for a Republican nomination.”
He said his decision to run as a Democrat was “based on the current law in my home state,” Washington, and other states, which allows candidates to change parties by state law after the primary election. He went on to say he was happy no one was hurt, including “a few people I know.”
“I continue to have a dream of representing all Washingtonians who are struggling to find jobs and affordable housing, and improving the quality of life for the people of the 9th District of Washington (i.e. the most expensive district of all),” wrote Bonin. “This is a fight to be continued.”
Bonin has made it his life’s work fighting to improve the lives of people in his district. As the Washington State Independent puts it:
“Bonin, a former high school teacher, was the first on Capitol Hill to bring the issue of affordable housing to Congress. He has worked in various state and local offices across the country to get affordable housing projects implemented. Bonin has also worked to make his district more livable. With his decision to run as an independent, he is now running on a