Four candidates will face off for a seat on the Pullman City Council in the Aug. 3 primary election. Ballots have already been mailed to voters in Ward 1 of the City of Pullman. Those ballots must be returned to a drop box or postmarked by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 3 to be counted.
Check your ballot status or update your information at the state VoteWA portal.
Incumbent City Councilman Al Sorensen faces challenges from former councilman and community advocate Francis Benjamin, United Way executive director Eric Fejeran and local physician Max Williams. (Click on their names to visit their campaign websites.) The two candidates who receive the most votes will proceed to the General Election in November.
All four expressed support for downtown revitalization efforts and concerns about affordable housing in a recent forum organized by the League of Women Voters of Pullman. Watch that two-hour discussion here. The quotes below are from that forum unless otherwise noted.
Whitman County Watch has also run the candidates through state and federal databases of political campaign donations to see what contributions they have made to other candidates or causes. Political donations serve as one public indicator of a candidate’s values and priorities. We have listed donations below and allowed candidates to offer comment.
Read the Official Voters’ Pamphlet from the Whitman County Auditor’s Office. The Moscow-Pullman Daily News also recently published a lengthy roundup on the race here.
FRANCIS BENJAMIN
Francis Benjamin is a longtime WSU employee, who previously served on the Pullman City Council from 2003-2015. He has led many aspects of the Pullman 2040 community revitalization effort and volunteers for other service organizations.
“I am an energetic community organizer and activist,” he said. “My leadership and passion really extends from youth mentoring to senior advocacy.”
Benjamin said his neighbors encouraged him to pursue a seat on the city council again. He previously ran for council against Councilwoman Eileen Macoll in 2019 and lost. He said he will prioritize downtown vibrancy, rebuilding trust in local government and long-term planning.
“I’m running for City Council because I’m dissatisfied with our current council’s actions,” he said.
State campaign disclosure records show Benjamin most recently donated $50 in 2020 the campaign of County Commissioner and Pullman businessman Tom Handy. Benjamin also donated $125 to the state representative campaign of Nathan Sybrandy, a Republican from Spokane Valley.
In 2019, Benjamin gave $100 to the Citizens for Pullman Regional Hospital political committee. In previous years, Benjamin donated to the Whitman County Republican Central Committee multiple times as well as to Republican Kim Wyman’s campaign for secretary of state and state Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax.
Federal records show Benjamin also donated to U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers in 2014 and the conservative Pivot Point Washington group in 2012.
When contacted via email about his donations, Benjamin offered to answer questions, but did not otherwise comment or challenge the contributions listed the disclosure records.
ERIC FEJERAN
Eric Fejeran works as the executive director of the nonprofit United Way of Whitman County. The 10-year resident of Pullman has advocated for progressive causes locally and twice run for elected office, losing a previous city council campaign and a run for county auditor.
Fejeran said he would pursue greater equity of opportunity for Pullman residents and support accessible, affordable housing.
“I’m running for City Council to make sure Pullman is a place where everybody has the opportunity to succeed, grow and raise a family,” he said. “Unfortunately, that is not the case for everybody in our community right now.”
Fejeran said the city needs to continue building back from the economic and social devastation of the pandemic, supporting community programs and local businesses. He said he wants to make sure that is an inclusive process.
“We really need better leadership on city council right now,” he said.
State campaign disclosure data show Fejeran donated at least $385 to the Whitman County Democrats going back to 2017. Local Democrats have endorsed him in this year’s city council race.
Fejeran also donated $20 to Pullman City Councilwoman Ann Parks’ campaign in 2019 as well as $40 to Democrat Jennifer Goulet’s run for state representative in 2018. He previous supported Democrat Matthew Sutherland’s representative run in 2018 with another $20.
Federal records showed Fejeran gave about $150 to the left-leaning ActBlue political committee. When contacted via email, Fejeran clarified his ActBlue donations were in support of then-presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“My political donations have shown that I support progressive candidates up and down the ballot,” he wrote, adding, “I regularly support my local Democratic Party and hope to be making monthly contributions to them again soon.”
ALAN SORENSEN
Incumbent Al Sorensen has served as the Pullman City Council member for Ward 1, Position 7 for two consecutive terms in addition to a previous term from 2005 to 2007. He also co-owns Pioneer Insurance and works as a full-time instructor at WSU.
Sorensen has offered strong support for developing the city’s downtown master plan and said he hopes to prioritizes downtown revitalization while the effort has momentum.
“Pullman has a great deal of energy right now and I want to continue to focus that energy on continuing to work with the citizens of Pullman and the city to move forward into the future,” he said. “These are exciting times and the time is now to make it happen.”
Sorensen said he would also support maintenance of local infrastructure like street and sidewalk repairs. He said the city council should review and guide development efforts without micromanaging city staff.
In addition to business recruitment and retention, Sorensen also pledged to continue his “open-door policy” to remain accessible to his constituents.
“I’m not a huge Facebook, Instagram, Twitter person,” he said. “There is nothing better than visiting with a person, in-person. I do it, even working two full-time jobs. There’s always time for the local people here.”
State campaign disclosure records show Sorensen most recently donating to his own city council campaign.
As the only city council candidate required to disclose his own donors, Sorensen has received $500 from Jeffrey Packer as well as $500 each from My Office Bar & Grill and Revenge of the Red Eye, both businesses registered to Packer. Sorensen has also reported $300 in anonymous contributions.
Federal campaign records show Sorensen donating $500 total to President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign last year and another $500 to the Republican WinRed fundraising organization.
Sorensen did not respond to an email seeking comment on his recorded political donations.
MAX WILLIAMS
Primary care physician Dr. Max Williams owns Apple a Day Family Medicine in Pullman and has lived in the city since 2011. Williams said he wants to prioritize community revitalization and increase affordable housing. He has not previously run for public office.
“I’m a natural-born advocate,” he said, emphasizing his ability to bring people together to solve problems.
Williams said affordable housing could help unleash the true economic potential of the city, arguing the average resident now spends 44 percent of their income on housing. Freeing up that money will let people spend more on quality of life.
“You can’t spend it in our coffee shops,” he said of money that goes to housing. “You can’t spend it in our eateries. … It chokes the life out of Pullman and it really hurts folks.”
Williams also hoped to leverage building ordinances to force property owners to address blight or vacant structures in downtown or along Grand Avenue. He also advocated for saving city money by transitioning to more energy efficient vehicles and improving council communications with the public.
“City council should be open,” he said. “It should be quite transparent.”
State disclosure records show Williams donating $25 to the Washington State Medical Association political committee in 2015. Federal records did not reveal any donations.
When contacted via email about his donations, Williams indicated he appreciated the coverage of the race and had no clarifications to add to the records.
“I am a big believer in transparency, accountability, and freedom of the press,” he wrote.
Find more information about voting in the upcoming election here.