PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Community Development Director Rob Robertson called off his re-election campaign Thursday, effectively handing the job to his opponent, John H. Miller.
Earlier this week, Robertsen was heard to complain about what he considered the drudgery of running for office, even in an election where both candidates were expected to campaign cleanly.
“God, I feel good!” he exclaimed Thursday shortly after he withdrew his candidacy.
“Campaigning, to me, is a horror.”
Robertsen’s withdrawal from the election came six days after the deadline passed for filing for office.
He is the second announced candidate to bow out of this year’s election.
County Commissioner Mike Chapman called off his campaign for sheriff in June. His former campaign manager, sheriff’s Sgt. Bill Benedict, replaced Chapman to oppose incumbent Joe Martin.
Charter changed in 2002
Robertsen is the nation’s only elected development director, chosen by voters after they changed the Clallam County Charter in 2002 to make the job elective, not appointive.
“Actually, I have mixed feelings about this,” he told Peninsula Daily News on Thursday.
When he filed for re-election on the first day of the weeklong filing period July 24, he said, “I didn’t think about all the ramifications.”
Those included diverting to a campaign the energy Robertsen wants to spend creating a tough anti-junk ordinance, drafting coherent land-clearing and grading regulations, and clarifying the language of the county zoning code — all by the end of the year.
“Doing that and running a campaign, I wouldn’t be able to put in the work that I should,” he said.
Robertsen, 69, said his decision had nothing to do with his health.
