Housing issues guide most candidates and ballot measures in odd-year election
It’s not a stretch to call the 2025 election the housing election. From public health to economic vitality, land supply, regulations and budget challenges, all candidates running for office are attributing the many issues facing local government to housing supply and affordability.
This year’s election coincides with the comprehensive plan updates for Skagit and Whatcom counties and the cities therein. That once-a-decade process has necessitated detailed reviews of the conditions on the ground, and prognostications about how and where future population and employment growth will happen in those communities.
Perry Eskridge, who has been the government affairs director at Whatcom County Association of Realtors for two decades, said this confluence of election season and comprehensive planning has brought “really robust discussion” around “meaty issues” like housing that he finds refreshing.
His organization interviews candidates and makes endorsements for some races in Whatcom County, because elected officials can make a difference in the housing landscape.
https://www.cascadiadaily.com/2025/oct/01/housing-issues-guide-most-candidates-and-ballot-measures-in-odd-year-election/