Immediate Past President

Janice Anderson

For several years Janice has faithfully participated in the Snohomish County Republican Party (SCRP), serving as a PCO in the 39th Legislative District (LD) for more than a decade. She has been an active part of grassroots efforts to get Republican candidates elected to public office and to support the SCRP through participation in a variety of events and campaigns. She regularly attends LD meetings, Central Committee meetings, Precinct and County Caucuses and Conventions. Since retiring at the end of 2018, she has regularly volunteered at the SCRP office, and was given the Republican National Committee’s Eagle Volunteer Program award on February 21, 2020 for outstanding volunteer service. Most recently, she was an active member of the SCRP Platform Committee that revised, refined and updated the current Platform. She is an avid supporter of former President Trump and was a member of the Trump Leadership Team in Snohomish County. She believed strongly that his reelection was vital to the stability of our democratic Republic: to our economy, to our place as leader on the world stage, and to our shared values. She still supports him, his policies, and any future role he might play in restoring our country to its’ foundational principles.

First Vice President, Programs

Candy Simon

In her own words, "My most important life’s work has been to raise five loving, talented, and creative children. They are all married now and have blessed our family with 11 grandchildren and a great grandchild. Each child is so precious, the joy of my life. I want nothing more than to assure that they will grow up with constitutional values and the freedoms we have had.

I grew up in a two-parent family who belonged to the Democratic party. I was taught that this was the party of the working class who cared about the poor. My love and belief in Jesus developed during Sunday School classes, hearing the stories of the Gospel. I decided during those developmental years that I would follow Jesus.

As a Social Worker, I worked 22 years for WA State Dept. of Developmental Disabilities and the Department of Children and Family Services. The beginning of my career was at Catholic Community Services working with single moms and at-risk youth. I became an advocate and speaker through CCS and spoke at legislative hearings on the needs of the populations with which I was working. I earned my BA in Human Services and graduated from Western Washington University in 1987.

The most exciting time in my career was working with the Snohomish County Association of Churches. Through the Housing Task Force, we decided that Snohomish County needed a low-income housing corporation. I became a founding member of the Housing Hope Corporation. Housing Hope has grown into a multi-million-dollar corporation that has helped families with emergency and transitional housing, as well as homeownership. Who would have ever dreamed?

During this time, I became the Director of the Church Hospitality Network whose church volunteers provided emergency shelter, food, and case management. To help further our cause, I became a Board member of the Washington State Homeless Task Force and Snohomish County Homeless Task Force.

I decided to further my education at the University of Washington and graduated with a Master of Social Work in 2004. I didn’t know it then, but my political belief system began to change during my schooling. We learned about “diversity”, but I recognize now that this was the beginning of teaching students Critical Race Theory. It gave me a knot in my stomach at the time, being taught that as a white person, I could not be discriminated against. I lived in cultures that were not exclusively white and knew that discrimination could happen to any race. Later, I received similar training while working for the State.

I met my husband, Wayne in 2012. He is a Republican and understood conservative values. He taught me why states rights are so vital to our survival. In 2021, I moved to a different church. The pastor there had not closed the churches during the pandemic. He explained that God is the highest authority, then We the People, then the US constitution, then WA State constitution and then the Governor. I am thankful to have people in my life who have given me insights to help us through these troubled times."

Secretary

Kathleen Strong

Kara Whelan

Treasurer

Kara was born in Spokane, WA and moved to Bellevue when she was 4 years old. She was raised in Bellevue and attended St. Louise Elementary School and Eastside Catholic High School. She attended Western Washington University and received her Bachelor of Arts in English in 1990. After graduation, Kara embarked on a year’s long travelling adventure where she lived in Ireland working as a barmaid in a pub and then off to Japan to teach English. Once home for good, Kara landed in the graphic arts field where she worked as a producer and project manager in several design studios in Seattle, eventually ending up working as a business manager in the graphic design group at Starbucks. But, lo, her calling was to be a mom and she was blessed to be able to stay home (read: volunteer for every auction, fund raiser and classroom project at her kids' schools ) and raise her two children who are now getting ready to leave the nest. Kara and her family moved from Seattle to Mill Creek in 2020. She became politically active upon her arrival to Snohomish County to make sure what happened to Seattle and King County don’t happen to Mill Creek and Snohomish County.