What do Carol Gregory, Shari Song, Greg Baruso, Roger Flygare, Richard Champion and Martin Moore have in common?

First, they are all Democrats; second, they are the names mentioned most frequently as likely candidates to fill the legislative position won by the late Roger Freeman.

The sad, but necessary, task of appointing a replacement for Freeman, who passed away just a few days before his successful re-election to a second term in the state House, has begun in earnest. The maneuvering has been going on for several weeks but until recently had remained discreetly behind the scenes.

Democratic precinct committee persons, who are elected by fellow Democrats as “neighborhood” representatives, will meet Dec. 1 to vote on the candidates. But there have already been disagreements over when to have the meeting and which group of precinct officers, old or recently elected, can vote on the candidates as the maneuvering to win the seat starts to unfold.

Since there are only 37 precinct voters, 36 King County and one in Pierce County, every vote is important.

However, the bigger stumbling block to the Democrats getting their best candidate appointed may be Republicans.

The 30th District Democrats will recommend three names in preferential order to the County Council, who shall appoint one of the three to the post. However, since the 30th District includes part of Pierce County, the Pierce County Council, which has five Republicans and two Democrats, will join with the King County Council in making the appointment.

The King County Council is by voter approval non-partisan. But their party affiliations look like five Democrats and four Republicans. That would seem to suggest a nine-seven Republican voting majority of the two councils.

However, that split into a high profile appointment such as this is likely to be highly political and fluid. The appointment will be good for one year and then the winner has to stand for election for the remaining year of Freeman’s two-year term.

Technically there are two positions vacant. The first is the remainder of Freeman’s current term, which runs until the end of the year and the new term that Freeman was elected to, beginning in January. The Democrats will want the same person appointed to both positions, while the Republican County Council members may have other ideas.

Despite the majority of the district being located in King County, each county will have three votes. Both counties will split their three votes equally among their council members. An adding machine that can accommodate tenths of votes will likely be nearby. If the council’s can’t agree, then the appointment is made by the governor.

Now, if you think this whole process will be rational and everyone just “wants the best candidate,” then think again. The “best” candidate to Democrats is one strong enough to hold the seat in next year’s election when big, really big, money will be provided to the Republican candidate to try and defeat the appointee and cut the house Democratic margin. The appointed Democrat, as a seated legislator, will be prohibited by law from raising money for their campaign while the Legislature is in session.

The “best” candidate to Republican County Council members will be the one they think is the weakest and most beatable by whomever the Republican candidate is. And Republicans haven’t been waiting for Thanksgiving. They have been actively looking for candidates to run next year and planning strategy for the appointment process and the election. While the Democrats will want to have the appointment process done quickly, Republicans may be in no hurry to appoint another Democrat to office.

Democrats do have choices.

Gregory is one of two current elected officials who may be in  the running. She is in her first year as a Federal Way school board member and is the chair. She has run for the Legislature twice, losing both times, before her election to her current position.

If appointed, she may want to keep her school board job just in case she doesn’t win election to the legislative position next fall. However, that idea opens the door to political maneuvering. In the past, the public has reacted negatively to one person holding two offices, even for a short time.

Republicans are more likely to put pressure on her to resign the school board so they could run someone for that position. However, Democrats may also consider requesting her to step down from the school board post if it increases her chances of winning in the fall and because it gives Republican Council members a reason to not appoint her.

Businesswoman Song developed a lot of contacts and name recognition in her recent losing race for the state Senate. She has a campaign team in place and knows the issues. She might be a stronger candidate as an incumbent than she was in the open Senate race. If not appointed she would be well positioned to jump in the race anyway.

Baruso is a firefighter who also made valuable contacts in his first race for public office as he ran a losing race for the other House seat in the 30th District. Some insiders would rather see him run for the City Council.

Business owner Flygare has experience in running for both the state Legislature and the City Council. He lost both times but has remained visible. He has been active in politics for a long time. He could be appealing to rank and file democrats. He has been working hard behind the scenes trying to line up votes.

Champion holds a leadership position in the local Democratic organization and while he has not run for office, he has been a candidate for appointment to office. He was recently a finalist for a vacancy on the school board. Like Flygare, he has been doing a lot of the hard behind the scenes work courting voters.

Moore has been Freeman’s assistant and is also just finishing his first year on the Federal Way City Council. However, Moore may be the most controversial option, as he has publicly supported Republican candidates, which might be appealing to Republican County Council members, but has angered many Democrats. Some believe he may be considering  a switch in parties.

Since the County Councils can choose any one of the three nominees, Democrats are likely to ask all candidates to support the No. 1 choice as voted on by the party. That might work, but recently in a nearby district, it didn’t and there are still hard feelings over it that may affect how this election is handled.

Who will the Democrats recommend and in what order? Who will the County Council members appoint and will they appoint a different person to the short and long terms? Will one or more of the Democrats who are not appointed run for the job in the fall election anyway? Who will the Republicans recruit as a candidate? And what if Moore switches parties and runs next fall as a Republican?

This is political Democracy at work and it may not be pretty. But, if the Democrats goal of getting the most “electable” candidate appointed is realized then it has been effective.

However, if the Republicans believe they have appointed the weakest candidate, then they will have been successful. But only one party can actually achieve their goal.

Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is a former mayor of Auburn: bjroegner@comcast.net.