By Jerry Cornfield
For the Globe-Times
ARLINGTON — Former state lawmaker Elizabeth Scott, party activist Georgene Faries and Sultan Mayor Carolyn Eslick are the top choices of Republican Party officers to fill the state House seat vacated by John Koster.
The trio emerged as nominees for the appointment at a meeting Wednesday of 39th Legislative District precinct officers at Hadley Hall in Arlington.
Scott earned the top ranking after receiving 20 of 33 votes in the opening round of balloting. Faries will be ranked No. 2 after she garnered 19 votes in the second round. Eslick was picked in later balloting.
Koster, of Arlington, resigned Aug. 31, eight months into his two-year term representing the district, which encompasses portions of Snohomish, Skagit and King counties. The person chosen to succeed him will serve through the 2018 election.
Because the district takes in parts of three counties, the elected council members and commissioners in all of them will have a say in who is appointed.
Scott, Faries and Eslick are slated for interviews with the Snohomish County Council at 8:45 a.m. Sept. 18 and the Skagit County Commission the following morning. They will be completing questionnaires, in lieu of interviews, for the King County Council.
Officials of the three counties are scheduled to gather at 2 p.m. Sept. 20 in the chambers of the Snohomish County Council to make a decision. They can choose any of the three.
Scott, of Monroe, is seeking to return to the state House seat she held for two terms before giving way to Koster. In 2016, she decided to run for Congress rather than seek a third state term. She wound up ending her campaign because of health issues.
Faries, of Arlington, is pursuing a political post for the first time. A stalwart party volunteer, she is in her fourth year as president of the Evergreen Republican Women’s Club and is the vice chairwoman of the 39th Legislative District Republicans.
Eslick is in her third term as mayor of Sultan after serving six years on that City Council. She is the founder and executive director of GROW Washington, a nonprofit business development center. In 2014, she made an unsuccessful run for Snohomish County executive.
