Candidates File for Dozens of Local Government Positions in Greater Lewis County

As of 1 p.m. on Tuesday, 74 candidates had filed for 65 different spots in small governments across Lewis County and beyond, including several city council, school board and fire commissioner seats. 

Filing week ends Friday and the deadline for candidate withdrawal declarations is May 22. 

Among the higher profile races, Centralia Port Commissioner Peter Lahmann is seeking re-election while Dianne Dorey, the recently-retired county assessor, has thrown in her hat for his spot.

In the first of only two three-candidate races to develop as of Tuesday, current Chehalis School Board member J. Vander Stoep has competition for the district 5 at-large seat from Anthony Mixer and Julie Balmelli-Powe. A ballot measure in 2021 changed two district director seats to two at-large positions, increasing the pool of potential candidates. Races with three or more candidates will be trimmed down to two in the August primary while candidates in races with one or two candidates automatically move on the general election in November.

In Centralia, Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston is running to keep her at-large position 2 seat on the council, which chooses its mayor by nomination rather than election. She does not yet have an opponent. Steven Hubbard and Russell Barr will seek election on the Centralia City Council, too, with both pursuing at-large position 1.  

Two of Chehalis’ city council incumbents, Councilor Daryl Lund and Mayor Tony Ketchum, have filed for re-election. Appointed councilor Kevin Carns will also seek to keep his spot, and candidate Karen Laufenberg is running for Isaac Pope’s council position, as Pope announced he will not be running again.

Three candidates are bidding for Toledo’s elected mayoral spot. Current Mayor Steve Dobosh has been taking a step back from his role in recent months due to health complications, and filed for his seat now are residents Jake Morgan, Cherie DeVore and Daniel Gorton.

Several other school board races are taking shape on the outskirts of Lewis County, where districts overlap with Pierce, Thurston and Cowlitz. In Rochester, candidates Michael Morrow and James Niel Turner are filed for director of district 4, while candidates Penelope Mena and Susie Hawes are set to vie for the district 3 seat.

For the Castle Rock School District, Gary Stoner and Tracy Morgan both filed to run for district 4 at-large. In Eatonville, Travis Rush and James Waldron are running against each other for the 

Other currently-uncontested candidates who have filed for various local government positions in greater Lewis County include: 

• Beatrice Minnear for the Mossyrock City Council, position 2.
• Shawn O’Neill for mayor of Napavine.
• Duane Crouse for the Napavine City Council, position 5.
• Jilona Speer for the Pe Ell City Council, position 3.
• Kristi Milanowski for the Pe Ell City Council, position 4.
• Rebecca Duerst for the Toledo City Council, position 3.
• Gary Reboin for the Toledo City Council, position 5. 
• Joe Schey for Mayor of Vader. 
• Michael Ferguson for the Vader City Council, position 5. 
• Marty Poirrier II for the Winlock City Council, position 1.
• Melissa Ryan for the Adna School District, director district 1.  
• Terry Bower for the Adna School District, director district 5. 
• Hollie Kunishige for the Boistfort School District, director district 5.
• Angelica Velazquez for the Castle Rock School District, director district 5 at-large.
• Maritza Bravo for the Centralia School District, position 2.
• Mandi McDougall for the Centralia School District, position 4. 
• Tim LeDuc for the Chehalis School District, director district 1. 
• Alan Browning for the Chehalis School District, director district 2. 
• Corey Ackerman for the Eatonville School District, director at-large position 4. 
• Paulette Gilliardi for the Eatonville School District, director district 1.
• Mitch Townsend for the Mossyrock School District, director district 5.
• Brandon Barnes for the Napavine School District, director district 1.  
• Tanya Naillon for the Onalaska School District, director district 1. 
• Jim Ball for the Onalaska School District, director district 2.
• Megan Iverson for the Onalaska School District, director position 4 at-large. 
• Seth Sharp for the Pe Ell School District, director position 4 at-large. 
• Jason Phelps for the Pe Ell School District, director position 5 at-large.
• Wava Garza for the Rochester School District, school board director district 2. 
• Ryan Gaylor for the Winlock School District, director district 1. 
• Roger Smith for the Morton Fire District 4, commissioner position 2.
• Pam Cool for the Morton Fire District 4, commissioner position 3.
• Mike Goodwillie for the Napavine Fire District 5, commissioner position 3.
• Gregory Greene for the Chehalis Fire District 6, commissioner position 3.
• Phil Lawrence for the Packwood Fire District 10, commissioner position 3. 
• Randy Crawford for the Packwood Fire District 10, commissioner position 5. 
• Frank Kittock for the Randle Fire District 14, commissioner position 3.
• Randy Pennington for the Winlock Fire District 15, commissioner position 3. 
• Philip Pokorski for the Glenoma Fire District 18, commissioner position 3. 
• Eugene O’Neill for the Cowlitz-Lewis Fire District 20, commissioner position 2.
• Darryl Crago for the Cowlitz-Lewis Fire District 20, commissioner position 3.
• Richard Mack for the Riverside Fire Authority, commissioner position 2.
• Buddy Lowrey for the Riverside Fire Authority, commissioner position 4.
• Mike Rossow for the Riverside Fire Authority, commissioner position 5. 
• Joe Sickles for the Winlock Cemetery District 1, commissioner position 3. 
• Shon Williams for the Mossyrock-Salkum Cemetery District 2, commissioner position 3.
• Van Anderson for Hospital District 1, commissioner district 2. 
• Sheila Unger for the Chehalis Water-Sewer District 4, commissioner position 3. 

To see the full, updated list of candidates that have filed, visit https://voter.votewa.gov/CandidateList.aspx?e=882&c=21. 

Candidate filing week is from May 15 to May 19. Those wishing to run for government positions in the next election can do so in a variety of ways. 

In Lewis County, candidates should file with the Lewis County Auditor’s Office, either online, in person or by mail.

Candidates seeking to file online in Lewis County can do so by going to https://elections.lewiscountywa.gov and selecting “Online Candidate Filing.” Those filing online must pay their filing fee online with a credit card.

Those wishing to file in person can do so at the Lewis County Auditor’s Office from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during filing week. Candidates will be required to file using the online filing system at a customer kiosk. Assistance will be provided as needed.

For those filing by mail, the Lewis County Elections mailing address is P.O. Box 29, 351 NW North St., Chehalis, WA 98532. Mailed candidate declarations must be received by 4:30 p.m. on May 19. 

To see which offices are open for candidate filing, current incumbents and filing fees, go to https://elections.lewiscountywa.gov/candidate-filing-information/ and select “Offices Open for Election.”

To see which candidates have filed so far and for which races, visit https://voter.votewa.gov/CandidateList.aspx?e=882&c=21. 

Once filing week is complete on Friday at 4:30 p.m., the filing officer will immediately determine the order in which candidate names will appear on the ballots via lot drawing according to a Lewis County news release. 

The lot draw will be done publicly in the Lewis County Auditor’s Office, elections department, at the Historic Courthouse located at 351 NW North St. in Chehalis. 

Both the public and media are invited to attend. For more information, call the auditor’s office at 360-740-1278.