March 25, 2016: Charlie Sheffer, who last year began running for State Representative from the 45th Legislative District, has withdrawn from the race.
Sammamish City Council Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama declared his candidacy yesterday. He will challenge incumbent Democrat Roger Goodman, who has held the seat since 2007.
“On February 15…I informed the House Republican Organizing Committee (HROC) that we would be withdrawing from our 2016 bid for the state House,” Sheffer wrote in an email to Sammamish Comment.
“The HROC felt that Ramiro would be the stronger candidate for this district and, importantly, leaked their implied support. Although we had what we felt was a strong primary campaign plan, we had not allowed for the contingency that HROC would actively support someone before the primary election. This made raising money, volunteers and garnering endorsements very difficult. It also put us in this awkward spot where our victories would be irritating to the very party we were running to represent.
“[I] fully intend on taking all the hard work we did, the money we raised and, most importantly, the friendships we now have and applying them all again in a future race,” Sheffer wrote.
Sammamish Comment 
I support Ramiro Valderrama for this position. He has done a good job for Sammamish and I hope for the State. We will see if he can beat Roger Goodman who has represented us for years. I think the people are looking for change from the whole Government and this will give some the opportunity to explore new things. I only hope Ramiro can find the balance with Family, State and City support.
While I too support Ramiro, and supported his most recent campaign… I think he should give up position #4 on the council if he wins. He will have numerous other responsibilities as a member of the House, and frankly, I don’t think he (or anyone else) would be able to fulfill the duties of each position to the level necessary. One of the roles will suffer, and I have a feeling that the council position will get the short end of the stick.
A piece of advice to Ramiro – if you win, vet someone else for your council position, and endorse their run in a special election. Your endorsement would help greatly.
Charlie had been working on his campaign for months and months; his own party just disrespected his work and the democratic process.
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