After four rounds of voting, Lewis County Republican precinct committee officers on Tuesday chose former county commissioner Lee Grose, former Onalaska fire commissioner Kevin Emerson and Onalaska Alliance founding member Harry Bhagwandin as candidates to fill a vacant seat on the Lewis County Board of Commissioners.
Forty-seven precinct committee officers chose Emerson, Grose and Bhagwandin, in that order of preference, among seven total candidates who had put themselves in consideration.
Lewis County’s two remaining commissioners — Sean Swope and Lindsey Pollock — will choose a candidate among the three to serve out the last year of former commissioner Gary Stamper’s term. If they don’t come to an agreement, the decision would ultimately go to Gov. Jay Inslee.
Stamper died late last month after a five-week battle with COVID-19.
“I think all seven of the candidates represented themselves well. They’re quality candidates,” said State Committeeman Ron Averill, who presided over the votes.
Both Emerson and Bhagwandin told precinct committee officers (PCOs) at Tuesday night’s nomination meeting they plan to run for the seat in 2022 if elected. Grose said he would not pursue another term.
Grose, who previously served two terms in the seat he’s now applying for, said though he doesn’t plan on running for the position again, having a chance to be back on the board will allow him to hit the ground running on county business while grooming another Republican to succeed him — just like he did previously with Stamper in 2014.
“It’s very difficult, and I don’t think any of the candidates up here understand how difficult it is, to hold an office and run for reelection at the same time. I did it once, and it’s very hard to do. You’re splitting two jobs — you’ve got two full-time jobs and it’s really, really hard,” he said.
“I appreciate the vote and support of the PCO,” he added of his pursuit of the position.
During the first round of voting, which saw PCOs choose three of the seven candidates, Emerson secured the most votes with 32 and Grose came in second with 29. PCOs then voted another three rounds, failing to find a clear majority on one candidate while cutting the candidate with the least amount of votes off subsequent ballots, until Bhagwandin came out with a majority of the votes.
“It was actually very humbling,” Emerson said of the process. “I’ve been working very hard to introduce myself to the PCOs and that process went very well.”
Emerson, a former commissioner for Lewis County Fire District 1 and Lewis County Water-Sewer District 2, said running for a county commissioner position has not previously been a goal.
“I wasn’t seeing that as any type of stepping stone. I had real issues there at the water district, and so I just wanted to do everything I could to fix it,” he said.
When he first stepped into public office, he saw it as an opportunity for substantive change and not as something that could be used to jumpstart a political career, he said.
Emerson also stepped into difficult situations as a commissioner of both districts, addressing first the 2018 fallout at Fire District 1 and then the ethics code violations with neighboring Water-Sewer District 5.
“I saw it as a situation where the county needed someone to fill that vacancy and I believed I had that experience, not just from my public office tenure but from my small business experience,” said Emerson, who works as a general contractor and has lived in Lewis County for 20 years.
His priorities if chosen include addressing growth, ensuring the county is being fiscally responsible and preserving constitutional values.
Bhagwandin, a semi-retired tree farmer who serves as the Onalaska Alliance’s grant writer, has been a Lewis County resident since 1985. He met Stamper in 2015 and said the former commissioner made an impact with him.
“He left some big shoes. What I like about Gary, and what I intend to carry through, is his ability to talk to a wide diversity of people, to listen, to build consensus and make you feel like you’re the most important person in the room,” Bhagwandin said.
He touted his knowledge of Lewis County Commissioner District 3’s issues, and noted that he’s been involved in agriculture and rural economic development for many years. He’d like to look at bringing more family-wage jobs to the district and build out infrastructure such as broadband.
Bhagwandin also voiced a desire to leverage community partnerships to get projects done, referring to the infrastructure planning work the Economic Alliance of Lewis County is doing with locally distributed American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“I’m honored that the PCOs picked me. It sure was a long and interesting process. I’m anxious to see what the commissioners think. I’m glad to have made it this far and it’s good to have that kind of support,” he told The Chronicle.
Though he admits he doesn’t have the experience of Grose, Bhagwandin said he holds more community activism and support than Emerson does. For many years, he’s been cheerleading the Onalaska community in a way he hopes catches the attention of the two remaining commissioners.
During the public interviews, PCOs also asked candidates where they stood on Washington state’s vaccination and indoor masking mandates. Bhagwandin was the only candidate among the three who confirmed he was vaccinated against COVID-19.
“I got vaccinated because I feel I don’t want to get sick,” he said, also downplaying the vaccine’s efficacy, saying later: “We’re here because the fact is the vaccine didn’t work and people died.”
Bhagwandin said his views on the vaccine and the state’s mandate are constantly evolving, noting that six months ago he likely would have been in support of a mandate.
Lewis County Commissioners Pollock and Swope, both also Republicans and in attendance Tuesday night, will have about a month to fill Stamper’s seat with one of these candidates. If not, the decision falls on Inslee.
Former Commissioner Gary Stamper died Sept. 29 from health complications related to COVID-19 at PeaceHealth Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington. He was vaccinated.
The community gathered on the steps of the Lewis County Courthouse just days later to remember the East Lewis County representative. A public memorial service for all community members will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds. The Chronicle will livestream the event on its Facebook page.
The other four candidates who were under consideration included Mike Hadaller, Linda Williams, Frank Corbin and Mitchel Townsend.
