Semi Bird hopes to parlay his local failure at the polls into cash for his gubernatorial run.
A Thursday email blast from Bird's 2024 campaign for governor was asking for donations in the wake of being ousted by a recall vote from his seat on the Richland School Board.
"I will never regret standing for what is right and I will always keep my promises," said the email. "The teachers unions and leftest activists may have won the recall battle, pouring 10's of thousands of dollars into the effort, but when the people of Washington send me to Olympia, we will win the war."
"We cannot let establishment and leftest money win this election, it's time for us all to take a stand," it said.
Bird and two other Richland School Board members — Kari Williams and Audra Byrd — are losing their bid to keep their seats on the board.
As of early Thursday morning, roughly 55.6% of ballots counted had been tallied in favor of removing Bird from his seat over a February 2022 vote the trio took to go against Washington state's indoor mask mandate and make COVID masks optional in Richland schools.
Schools were closed for two days after the vote. And after several meetings, the trio eventually agreed to reverse course and follow Washington's plan for gradually removing masks.
Bird is a Tri-City behavioral scientist and decorated retired U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret with 24 years of military service. He's hoping to be the first Black man to assume the office of Washington governor — and be the first Republican in four decades to do so, too.
In his Thursday email, Bird said he would advocate for school choice, curricula transparency, parental rights and ban critical race theory.
He also called Gov. Jay Inslee's COVID-era mask mandates "illegal," despite those same mandates being backed by emergency powers and the courts consistently siding with Inslee on the issue.
"This election (is) about the people vs the political elites, it's a battle we CANNOT afford to lose," Bird's campaign said.
Washington Democrats were also fundraising off Bird's recall. On Thursday afternoon, the party sent out an email asking for donations, saying the Republican from Richland was "too extreme to be governor."
"He's completely out of sync with Washington State values of freedom, justice and equality. He's in lockstep with far-right groups like Moms for Liberty, who want to censor our kids' history lessons, marginalize LGBTQ+ students and teachers, and move our country backward," the party wrote.
Inslee has decided not to seek a fourth term. Bird, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, State Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz and former Rep. Dave Reichert have thrown their hats in the ring to replace him.
Bird remains the Republican's financial front runner, having raised more than $125,000 in cash donations in the last nine months, according to Public Disclosure Commission filings. But he faces an uphill battle against Reichert, who appears to be the more moderate GOP favorite.
If results from the Aug. 1 primary election hold, Bird will be removed from the only publicly elected office he's ever held.
Bird has been resoundingly unapologetic for his actions last year, saying in a statement earlier this week that he would wear his removal from office "like a badger of honor."
The three school board members must vacate their office by the election certification on Tuesday, Aug. 15. But the recall vote does not stop them from running for office again.
