A political veteran and a newcomer, both with bloodlines entrenched in Grays Harbor, have filed to run for a seat on the county commission.

Democrats Brian Blake and Jerry Rajcich each threw their hats in the ring in April to represent District 2, which includes Aberdeen and the area south of the Chehalis River, West of U.S. Highway 101.

Republican Commissioner Kevin Pine, whose term will expire at the end of this year, told The Daily World he won’t run for reelection.

Rajcich became the first candidate to declare his intent to run for the open spot when he filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission on April 10, followed by Blake on April 19.

While the entire field of candidates won’t be clear until the end of the Secretary of State’s filing period on May 10, the announcements set up a race between a longtime former state lawmaker and a county employee looking to break into the political realm — both of whom would shift the political composition of the current board.

Brian Blake

Blake served Southwest Washington’s 19th District in the state House of Representatives from 2002 to 2020, when he lost the seat to Rep. Joel McEntire.

After a few years in the private sector, Blake still feels he has more in the tank. He said he flirted with the idea of running for Congress after Rep. Derek Kilmer announced in January he wouldn’t pursue the 6th District seat this fall, but decided that lifestyle wasn’t for him and wanted to focus on the future of Grays Harbor.

“I loved serving in the Legislature and thought I made a difference,” Blake said in an interview. “I knew this race was coming and thought I had a lot to offer my community still.”

The 63-year-old Aberdeen resident can trace his family history in Grays Harbor to 1888, the year before statehood. After high school he went logging — a job he thought would be a career until a couple of accidents pushed him out. He received forestry and environmental degrees from Grays Harbor College and Evergreen State.

Public lands access issues launched him into politics. In the late 1990s, the state designated land on the Elk River, which drains into the south bay of Grays Harbor, into the Natural Areas Program, which limited use to science and education. Blake, who grew up hunting and picking berries along the Elk, helped organize a petition and delivered it to state legislators. The effort resulted in a bill switching the Elk River area’s designation to a Natural Resource Conservation Area, which allowed for hunting and harvesting.

“That was a very empowering feeling, that the community could fight back on that and change state law,” Blake said. “At that point some folks asked me to consider running for the Legislature.”

In the Legislature he served as chair on the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. That work gave him experience working with county commissioners across the state, he said.

“Being a committee chair really helps to understand how you need to bring the constituency and your fellow elected officials along,” Blake said. “So many times you see elected officials that just try and lone wolf it.”

As Grays Harbor commissioner, Blake said, he would continue to focus on natural resources issues, including supporting the county’s own forestry department and engaging in the current draft amendments to the Northwest Forest Plan, which details management of federal forests.

Blake, who works in government affairs for Westport’s Ocean Gold Seafood, said he sees potential for that industry to grow.

The county should do more to increase economic development and tourism, especially in outdoor recreation, Blake said, pointing to the potential to expand boat launches, spread forest trail systems and develop better access to the Wynoochee River gorge.

When asked about housing and homelessness, Blake said he is a “big fan” of the housing trust fund in the state’s capital budget. He called for incentivizing investments in housing and bringing in “appropriate housing in the appropriate places.” He said he would focus on working with cities to solve the problem.

If elected, Blake said, he would probably step down after one four-year term.

“I want to come in, be helpful and then let the next person come in,” he said.

Jerry Rajcich

Unlike Blake, the 33-year-old Rajcich is a stranger to political campaigns. But he’s no stranger to the public sphere, or the workings of Grays Harbor County.

Rajcich said skills and information gleaned from nearly four years on board with Grays Harbor County Public Health and a handful more in the field of medicine give him a leg up to tackle the county’s biggest issues.

“For me, it’s going to be a learning curve in this,” Rajcich said in an interview. “I’m not an economist, I don’t know the complete lay of the land. But my ability and willingness to talk and learn and listen, I think, is what’s going to separate me from the other folks who are going to run.”

Rajcich said he began seriously considering running for county commissioner in February as the November election inched closer without an applicant for the District 2 seat. He said people around him encouraged him to run and took it upon himself as he saw county leaders had “lost a little bit of that faith and hope.”

“I want to see Grays Harbor thrive,” he said. “I’m invested in this community. My family has been here for generations. I want to see Grays Harbor thrive.”

A fourth generation Harborite, Rajcich had sights set on medical school after getting an associate’s degree from Grays Harbor College but changed courses after graduating from Western Washington University with a bachelor’s in community health.

He returned to Grays Harbor in 2020 and began work tracking COVID-19 cases. He helped set up the county’s first mass vaccination clinic, a model he said was later implemented by the state health department and is a prime example of a successful collaborative effort.

“It’s when we come together that we can actually do incredible things,” Rajcich said. “That is what I want to bring to the commission.”

More recently, Rajcich has worked to implement health department programs primarily related to mental health and substance use. Beyond the ability to administer grant funding, Rajcich said the job has provided an understanding of the needs in social systems across the county, and talked about the link between housing, homelessness, the economy and lack of healthcare.

He emphasized the “need to find a path forward and have a real strategic plan” for homelessness and said an emergency homeless shelter would be “top of mind.” He also said using federal and state funds to address the problem would be key, while working on zoning policy to incentivize housing development.

Rajcich said other priorities include economic development, potentially accomplished through enhanced Port of Grays Harbor activities or working with Greater Grays Harbor, Inc. He wants to retain more of the young people who leave for opportunities elsewhere. That retention could happen through work with the college, as well as creating “living wage jobs, avenue for continued education, thriving natural environment, access to healthcare, transportation, and civic muscle and sense of belonging.”

“It’s really unfortunate because Grays Harbor is a great place to live,” Rajcich said. “But we need more industry here. We need those people to have some hope in the future here rather than just going off and doing something else.”

When asked if he would serve more than one term, Rajcich said it would depend on the situation at the end of his first term, if elected.

“I want to look at long-term solutions,” he said. “I’m not looking for a quick win on something, I’m looking at how are we going to sustain our communities for generations rather than just the status quo.”

Contact reporter Clayton Franke at 406-552-3917 or clayton.franke@thedailyworld.com.

Brian Blake

Jerry Rajcich