Loren Culp loses police job in NE Washington, days before apparent loss in governor's race
REPUBLIC, Wash. — City Council members in Republic, Wash., decided last week to contract with Ferry County for the town's law enforcement needs, putting gubernatorial challenger Loren Culp out of a job just a few days before his projected loss in the effort to unseat Gov. Jay Inslee.
Addressing his social media followers Wednesday from a car during a Facebook Live that he called Lunch with Loren, Culp -- who has still not conceded in his race against Inslee -- spoke about the council's decision.
"The City Council had a special meeting and they voted to defund the police department, including my job," Culp said Wednesday. "Incredible, right? Small minded people playing political games."
According to the minutes of the council's specially called meeting, Republic Mayor Elbert Koontz and council members April Drennan, Rachel Siracuse, Loni Simone and Jim Burnside were present for the session. The council voted 3-1 in favor of the county agreement.
It was not immediately clear which council member opposed the move or what prompted the decision by the town to hire the county to provide its policing services.
Culp said he has worked as a police officer for 10 years in the city, which has slightly more than 1,000 residents in Ferry County. He said he took a leave of absence in September to concentrate on his campaign and was told right before the election about the council's decision to defund the department.
"Not even a letter of thank you, not a plaque for 10 years of service," Culp said. "They just voted to defund the police department, and away with that, went my job."
He said he was not told about the decision by a call or letter. It was not clear how Culp learned about the council's decision.
"I love the city of Republic," he said, adding that the decision "felt like a knife in the back."
During his campaign to unseat Inslee, Culp said he was seeking the state's highest elected office because of the COVID-19 mandates ordered by Inslee.
As of Wednesday, the Associated Press had called the governor's race for Inslee, who had roughly a 60 percent lead over Culp, according to the first batch of vote returns released by the Washington Secretary of State's Office.
Culp said he was "digging into the numbers because something smells fishy."
