The eligibility of Westport mayoral candidate Joseph Whitmore to hold office has been called into question because he has not lived within the city limits for the period of time required by state law.

Whitmore recently told The Daily World he moved to an address within the city limits less than a day before the end of the candidate filing period.

Westport City Attorney Wayne “Tiger” Hagen Jr. said the city defers to state rules for many of its laws, including qualifications to hold office under the mayor-council form of government Westport uses. Hagen was not speaking to any particular canadidate or race, simply stating which laws the city uses regarding candidate qualifications.

State law RCW 35A.12.030 reads, “No person shall be eligible to hold elective office under the mayor-council plan unless the person is a registered voter of the city at the time of filing his or her declaration of candidacy and has been a resident of the city for a period of at least one year next preceding his or her election.”

Under that law, if Whitmore should win the general election, he would not be eligible to hold office.

A similar situation took place in the 2017 McCleary mayoral race. The candidacy of Jared Berken was questioned because he had not lived within the McCleary city limits for a year before the election. At that time, nobody challenged Berken’s eligibility prior to the general election, which he lost to Brent Schiller.

Rob Bearden, the incumbent, said he has no plans to challenge Whitmore’s eligibility prior to the November election.