Official candidate filing week isn’t until May 11, meaning there’s still time for others to announce their candidacies for a wide range of state and local offices.
As it stands today, though, the incumbents for Legislative District 19 and District 20 — state Sens. John Braun and Dean Takko — have seen little opposition. Candidates are required to announce their intentions to run through the Public Disclosure Commission.
In the race for state senator in District 19, Takko is slated to run against Wesley Cormier, a Republican from Elma, and Republican Jeff Wilson from Longview. Cormier filed to run on Jan. 29 and has raised a total of $3,439.75 for his campaign as of March 10. Wilson only filed to run on March 6. He’s reporting his campaign will raise over $5,000; however, he has not reported any contributions.
Braun is the only name currently filed in the race for District 20. His listed contributions are at $135,536.86.
As far as the state representative races, Peter Abbarno, a Republican based in Centralia, is running for the seat currently occupied by Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis. DeBolt recently announced his upcoming retirement and he won’t seek re-election.
According to the 2020 Lewis County Elections Candidate Guide, county commissioner seats in Districts 1 and 2 are also open for election, with a $826.24 filing fee listed for each. The offices are currently occupied by Edna Fund and Bobby Jackson, respectively. They are each nearing the end of four-year terms that started in January 2017. Only Jackson’s District 2 seat currently has an additional candidate, Republican Lindsey Pollock, of Winlock, who filed to run on Feb. 6. The current term for Commissioner Gary Stamper of District 3 runs through 2022.
Commissioner Fund told The Chronicle she’s “95 percent sure” she’ll seek re-election.
Heather Boyer, of the Lewis County Auditor’s Office, cited past races for both county commissioner seats when asked about the potential of other candidates ultimately announcing their campaigns.
In 2016, Dan Keahey and Bob Bozath ran against Edna Fund and Bobby Jackson, respectively, in the primary for the Lewis County Board of Commissioners race.
All three Superior Court judicial seats are open for election, with current judges Andrew Toynbee of Department 1, James Lawler from Department 2 and Department 3’s Joely O’Rourke all completing their terms. The filing fee for any of the three judicial openings is $1,909.85, and according to PDA, no challenger has yet announced their candidacy.
In the Lewis County Public Utility District, two of the three commissioners seats are open for election. Ben Kostick, of District 1, and Ed Rothlin, of District 2, are in the final years of their terms. For Kostick, the term was a standard four years, while Rothlin’s was a two-year, unexpired term he took over in October 2019.
Beyond that, all precincts in Lewis County have two-year precinct committee officer openings, for both the Republican and Democratic parties. There isn’t a filing fee for those openings.
Thurston County’s commissioners race features multiple candidates. District 1’s seat, currently filled by John Hutchings, has four candidates. Each party is represented, with Hutchings and candidate Walter “Bud” Blake listed as an independents. C. Davis, a challenger from Olympia, is listed as a Republican. Two additional candidates, Rory Summerson and Carolina Mejia are Democrats. District 2’s Gary Edwards filed to run for re-election on March 9. He’s currently slated to run against Republican candidate Michael Stedman, the only other challenger who has filed. Stedman filed with the PDC on May 14, 2019 and has raised $46,704.53 in contributions.
Tye Menser, of Thurston County Board of County Commissioners District 3, is serving his first term through 2022.
