On Thursday, the chairwoman of the Island County Democratic Party threw her hat into the ring for state representative.

Margarethe “Grethe” Cammermeyer, an 11-year resident of Langley, announced a write-in candidacy against Chris Strow for State Representative, 10th Legislative District, Position 1.

Strow’s seat was uncontested until last week. Strow, a Republican is seeking a second two year term.

“We want this campaign to be a wake-up call for the Republican Party. We should not let them take this seat for granted,” Cammermeyer said.

Cammermeyer said although she is starting late, “perhaps I can add a little bit of hope with the anticipation two years from now there will be another race.”

Cammermeyer said she does not plan to raise any money or actively campaign because “most of the campaign work by candidates has been done.”

“We will see what we can do from a grass roots effort,” she said.

Cammermeyer says her passions are healthcare, education and support for men and women and their families serving in the military. She became active in politics after her 1993 move to Whidbey Island, where in 1998 she unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Jack Metcalf in his last run for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Cammermeyer, is a retired colonel from the Army, and a registered nurse. She made a name for herself nationally when she fought the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of the American military. Her 25-month court battle to stay in the Army spawned the autobiography “Serving in Silence” and a subsequent, made-for-TV movie starring Glenn Close as Cammermeyer and Judy Davis as Diane Divelbess, her partner of nearly two decades.