The Lewis County Republican Party on Monday voted unanimously to cut ties with and “vehemently denounce” district 2 county Commissioner Lindsey Pollock, who was elected as a Republican in 2020.
Party Chairman Brandon Svenson said more than 30 people participated in the vote on whether or not to “censure” Pollock at the party’s meeting on Monday. According to the U.S. Senate, the decision to censure a politician, while not as severe as expulsion, signals denouncement or condemnation.
The vote, according to a news release from Wednesday, means the party will not support Pollock if she runs for re-election. It came after a string of events spurred by a Lewis County Pride event in downtown Centralia on June 10, where a group of self-proclaimed white supremacists came and harassed event attendees.
The same day, party leaders set up a booth in downtown Chehalis, not far from where McFiler’s Chehalis Theater was hosting a drag show.
Lewis County Republican Party officials insist they have no connection with the white supremacist group. Pollock made a statement in a county meeting a few days later, drawing comparisons between the two groups’ behaviors and said both were set out to “intimidate a minority group.”
Svenson said the party’s booth was meant to get signatures for an initiative to overturn a recently-passed Senate bill that creates confidentiality between shelters and transgender children leaving home to seek gender-affirming care — the legislation has been heavily criticized for taking away parents’ rights.
Pollock later said she supported the initiative, too, but reprimanded the party’s venue choice and one member’s decision to take photos of drag show attendees.
In public comment at a county meeting the following week, while demanding an apology from Pollock, party leaders suggested it was inappropriate that kids ages 13 and older, if accompanied by an adult, were allowed in the drag show.
During that meeting, Svenson asked Pollock to attend the July 3 meeting for discussion with the party. She told The Chronicle she was unable to attend due to previous obligations for an Independence Day celebration.
The Lewis County Republicans news release stated the vote to censure her came from “her use of extremist language to describe the Republican Party and its leadership. This language is not reflective of the values and principles that our party stands for.”
Though she was elected as a Republican, the news release claims Pollock “has consistently failed to uphold our party's principles, values and the will of our constituents in Lewis County. … Pollock has proven time and again that her beliefs and actions are incongruent with the true spirit of our party.”
In an emailed response on Wednesday morning, Pollock wrote in part: “I do not believe the opinion of a small group of extremists is representative of the fair-mindedness of the majority of Republicans nor the vast majority of voters in Lewis County.”
For future county, district and statewide elections, Pollock said, the future of the Republican Party “hinges on rejecting extremism on both ends of the scale.”
One year ago, the county Republican party faced turmoil within the walls of its meetings, where some wanted to remove Svenson from the position of chairman. A few years ago, he held a sign at a county meeting, presumably aimed at Pollock, which read “RINO,” or “Republican in Name-Only.”
Since, though, the county saw a record number of Precinct Committee Officer elections. Meant to serve as community liaisons for the party, the officers also make up the committee which votes on matters such as Monday’s censure.
“We can unite and prosper, or divide and fail,” Pollock wrote. “The choice stands before us. As for me, I shall continue working to build a prosperous future for Lewis County.”
On the other hand, the party likewise doubled down.
The news release called Pollock’s speech a “betrayal,” later stating: “Our commitment remains unwaveringly dedicated to promoting and electing genuine Republicans who will truly represent our morals, platform, values, and the interests of the people of Lewis County.”
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Editor’s note: The Chronicle erroneously printed that the Lewis County Pride event was on June 8 in a previous story.
