Report: Exiting Republican Sec. of State Kim Wyman to register as independent for new role
Nov 19, 2021, 4:29 PM | Updated: 4:29 pm
Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman poses for a photo at the public entrance to her office, Monday, Nov. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman has served for years as the sole Republican to hold a statewide elected office. Once she transitions to her new role with the Biden administration, she plans to distance herself from partisan politics altogether.
‘A bittersweet night’ as Sec. of State Wyman reflects on her last Washington election
In an interview with Crosscut’s Melissa Santos, Wyman revealed that as part of her move to Virginia for her new job, she will be registering to vote in the state as an independent, rather than as a Republican.
“I probably will register as an independent, in part because of the job and the nature of the job,” she explained. “I’m really stepping back from political life in every sense. And I think just being an independent in terms of voter registration is kind of in line with that as well.”
Weeks after the events of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Wyman said she believed the Republican Party had “soul-searching” to do, following weeks of election fraud claims led by departing President Donald Trump and his supporters. She later clarified that she wasn’t planning on leaving the party at the time despite that, describing how the riot was “not what the Republican Party is about.”
Kim Wyman: ‘I don’t think it matters’ if Washington’s Secretary of State is a Republican
In late October, she again addressed her position on the party’s direction, expressing support for a Washington Post op-ed from Congresswoman Liz Cheney which had urged Republicans to “stand for genuinely conservative principles, and steer away from the dangerous and anti-democratic Trump cult of personality.”
In Wyman’s new role, she will serve as the Senior Election Security Lead for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). CISA functions as part of the Department of Homeland Security, operating as “the quarterback for the federal cybersecurity team” according to the department’s website.
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