Port of Bellingham - Shifting to 5

The Expanding Commission

On November 4th, the voters of Whatcom County elected to expand the Port Commission from 3 seats, to 5. The voters enacted the following proposition with a tallied 65% of the vote: 
"The Commission of the Port of Bellingham adopted Resolution No. 1422, concerning a proposition to increase the number of commissioners of the Port District from three (3) commissioners to five (5) commissioners, each assigned to one (1) of five (5) newly drawn separate districts." - Whatcom County Voter's Guide, 2025

Timeline

The process to determine the districts has already begun. See the timeline below:

• November, 2025 - Port verifies that County district lines meet the most recent guidelines for districting, and will re-balance if necessary to meet those guidelines. The goal is to align with the County districts as much as possible.
• December 1st - The first public draft of the district maps is published that will include two new districts, #4 and #5. 
• December 8th - The second notice of the published draft is issued.
• December 9th - Public Hearing - The public at the Port Commission meeting may comment on the drafted maps.
• December 16th - Port will adopt the maps at the Port Commission meeting.
• January 1st, 2026 - Port must submit the maps to author.

The New Commissioners

The two new Port Commissioners representing the newly created districts 4 and 5 must:

• Submit their candidacy by May 9th, 2026.
• They will be primaried by their represented district on August 5th, 2026.
• They will each be elected by the general electorate of Whatcom on November 3rd, 2026 in the General Election.
• They will take office immediately after the election is ratified.
• They will be stepped terms, so that the rotation of elections is properly set up:
• Of the two elected commissioners (for district 4, and district 5), the one who received more votes between them will serve a 3-year term.
• Of the two elected commissioners (for district 4, and district 5), the one who receives less votes between them will serve a 1-year term, and can run again the following year for a regular, 3-year term.
• This sets up the rotation of elections to properly be every other year on the odd years. 
  
  

A note on district borders shifting

It is worth noting that after this recent election, some commissioners' districts may shift, so that they reside outside the district they were elected to represent.  In this scenario:

• the Commissioner would continue to serve that district for the remainder of their elected term, despite not residing in that district once the maps are re-drawn.
• During the next election, should the commissioner desire to stay on the commission, they would need to run in the primary for the new district they live in.

You can find more information on the re-districting from the Port of Bellingham's website:

Port of Bellingham: Expanding the Commission

We'll keep our members notified of any drafts that are published and the hearing for them when it comes time. If you have suggestions or further questions, you can reach our staff at Info@whatcomworkingwaterfront.org.