Todd Donovan
Todd Donovan is currently a member of the Whatcom County Council in Washington State. He was first elected in 2015 to Position B of the old District 1, formerly held by retiring Pete Kremen, and defeating Bruce Ayers. Donovan is a Professor of Political Science at Western Washington University.
He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Academic Career
Donovan is a noted scholar in the field of local politics, election reform, and direct democracy. He is author or co-author numerous academic articles and several books on the topic, including Changing How America Votes, and The Limits of Electoral Reform (with Shaun Bowler). Donovan has served as an expert witness in several lawsuits about election law, including Washington State's legal defense of Initiative 872 (which created a nonpartisan blanket primary).
Political Career
In 2014, Donovan was elected to the Whatcom County Charter Review Commission, a 15-member body that meets every 10 years to propose changes to the county's charter document. Donovan won the second most votes in the old County District 1, earning him one of the five seats representing District 1 on the commission.
After serving on the Charter Review Commission, Donovan then ran for a seat on the County Council itself, winning 62% percent of the votes in a four-way primary election in August 2015, and advancing to the November 2015 top-two general election where he defeated Bruce Ayers 55% to 45%.
After the county's re-districting, Donovan chose to run in 2017 for the new District 2, North Bellingham, even though he had been elected in 2015 to a four-year term that would not expire until 2019. Due to the redistricting, however, his previous District 1, Position B seat no longer exists; Donovan now lives in the new District 2, which is up for election in 2017, not 2019. Donovan argues that waiting until 2019 would force him to run against his colleague Satpal Sidhu for the same at-large seat. This future theory is not strongly supported, since Sidhu announced he would run in 2017 and filed with the election reporting authority, but suddenly declined to not actually run for office at ballot filing deadline. So it is unclear at best who would run or not run in 2019. Donovan's decision to run in 2017 pits him against newcomer candidate Amy Glasser, resulting in a "very heated primary for two progressive candidates."
He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Academic Career
Donovan is a noted scholar in the field of local politics, election reform, and direct democracy. He is author or co-author numerous academic articles and several books on the topic, including Changing How America Votes, and The Limits of Electoral Reform (with Shaun Bowler). Donovan has served as an expert witness in several lawsuits about election law, including Washington State's legal defense of Initiative 872 (which created a nonpartisan blanket primary).
Political Career
In 2014, Donovan was elected to the Whatcom County Charter Review Commission, a 15-member body that meets every 10 years to propose changes to the county's charter document. Donovan won the second most votes in the old County District 1, earning him one of the five seats representing District 1 on the commission.
After serving on the Charter Review Commission, Donovan then ran for a seat on the County Council itself, winning 62% percent of the votes in a four-way primary election in August 2015, and advancing to the November 2015 top-two general election where he defeated Bruce Ayers 55% to 45%.
After the county's re-districting, Donovan chose to run in 2017 for the new District 2, North Bellingham, even though he had been elected in 2015 to a four-year term that would not expire until 2019. Due to the redistricting, however, his previous District 1, Position B seat no longer exists; Donovan now lives in the new District 2, which is up for election in 2017, not 2019. Donovan argues that waiting until 2019 would force him to run against his colleague Satpal Sidhu for the same at-large seat. This future theory is not strongly supported, since Sidhu announced he would run in 2017 and filed with the election reporting authority, but suddenly declined to not actually run for office at ballot filing deadline. So it is unclear at best who would run or not run in 2019. Donovan's decision to run in 2017 pits him against newcomer candidate Amy Glasser, resulting in a "very heated primary for two progressive candidates."
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