If you have received a campaign mailer from Democrat Charlotte Garrido, incumbent candidate for Kitsap County Commissioner, kindly note that the “Chris Henry” on Garrido’s list of endorsements is not me.

The endorser in question is a man, Christian Henry, who lives on Bainbridge Island. I am a woman (some people just looking at my byline address me in emails as Mr. Henry), and I live in South Kitsap.

Garrido’s campaign manager changed the website today after I heard about the mailer and called Garrido, who apologized profusely. Garrido knows, as does commissioner candidate Lary Coppola, who called my attention to the mailer, that if I as a reporter covering the race were to endorse a candidate, I’d be canned so fast it would make your head spin, and rightly so.

The same would hold true even if I weren’t covering the race. In the interest of objectivity, we reporters are under a host of constraints during elections season. We can’t do anything that would indicate a preference for any party or candidate. That includes sporting buttons or bumper stickers, signing petitions, donating to campaigns or causes, and attending caucuses.

We are permitted to vote, but don’t bother asking me to discuss my ballot. Please and thank you.

In case you missed our election night coverage of the race for South Kitsap Commissioner here’s the Cliff notes version. Garrido and Republican Linda Simpson advance to the general election. Coppola, a Democrat, and Independent Kris Danielson are out.

Chris(tina) Henry
Kitsap Sun reporter
chenry@kitsapsun.com