Photo by Michael Whitney.
MONROE — A race to succeed long-serving Mayor Geoffrey Thomas has begun as City Councilwoman Heather Fulcher and former City Councilwoman Patsy Cudaback have organized campaigns.
Fulcher’s and Cudaback’s time on council overlapped in the late 2010s until earlier this decade.
Fulcher said she wants the city government to keep its focus on core infrastructure when spending city dollars. She said she supports social services if they are grant-funded. A successful mayorship, she said, is one where people get what they paid for.
Cudaback said “I want to keep the politics local - nonpartisan - and in the best interests of the Monroe community at large. I believe in serving the entire community and want community members to feel like Monroe is a great place to live, work and belong.”
For months now, Thomas has shared with colleagues and dropped hints in public meetings that his current third term as mayor would be his last. He would be stepping off as the mayor who helped shape modern Monroe and shooed partisan politics out of city decision-making.
Cudaback has Thomas’s endorsement in the race. She said he encouraged her to run.
Fulcher said earlier this month she is not seeking endorsements yet.
“People should know me by my record,” Fulcher said.
Fulcher was appointed to the Planning Commission in 2017 and elected to the council in 2019. More recently, she won re-election in 2023 with election signs cheerfully saying “Just Heather” featuring her poof of red hair. She said her signs for mayor will look more traditional.
Cudaback won election to the council in 2009, serving three terms to 2021. She faced no opponent for two of her re-election bids. Cudaback said she stepped away from council to focus on her children.
Cudaback’s career is with the YMCA of Snohomish County as its Chief Operating Officer. Before that, she headed the Monroe Y as its director.
Fulcher owns the Monroe Coffee Co. on Main Street, which she started about 10 years ago and now owns in full. Her father ran the Christian Armory bookshop at the same spot. She’s a fifth-generation Monroe resident who said she dreamed of being mayor since she was 17.
Fulcher lives close to the shop in downtown. Cudaback has lived in north Monroe for 20 years in a northern neighborhood.
Fulcher will be up for re-election to council in 2027, making this a free run.
Separately, of the four City Council members up for re-election this year, incumbents Kevin Hanford and Kyle Fisher have already lodged campaign finance paperwork relating to their re-election bids. The official candidate filing period is in May.
