Port of Seattle Commissioner Bill Bryant, a businessman who has strongly supported allowing Shell to base its Arctic offshore oil-drilling fleet here, announced his campaign as a Republican candidate for governor on Thursday — just as one of the company’s massive drill rigs was being greeted by protests upon its arrival at the city’s waterfront.
Bryant, 54, has served on the port commission since 2008. He is the first announced challenger to Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee in 2016, and he was immediately attacked by Democrats who questioned his welcome of Shell’s drilling fleet and what they described as his opposition to improving pay and working conditions for employees at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Earlier in the week, Bryant was the lone port commissioner to vote against a request that Shell delay bringing its fleet to Seattle.