COEUR d'ALENE - Chief Deputy Treasurer Laurie Thomas announced on Thursday her intent to run for Kootenai County Treasurer.

"When Tom (Malzahn) announced he was retiring, I did some soul searching and realized I really love what I do," Thomas said.

Malzahn, the current county treasurer, announced his intention to retire last year, but he delayed his retirement until the end of his term because he could not be assured that Thomas would be appointed to complete the term.

Now he is endorsing Thomas to succeed him.

"Laurie has served as the chief deputy treasurer for 13 years and is the most qualified person in Kootenai County for the job," he said. "She will make a great treasurer serving all of the people of Kootenai County."

Thomas, who has served as the deputy treasurer since February of 2001, said she will now run for the seat in the upcoming primary on May 20.

The official filing date for candidates running in the primary is March 3 through March 14, but Thomas wanted to put her name forward early.

"I would imagine with this being an open seat, I would expect to see a few people run," she said.

The treasurer's position is a four-year term that pays $70,684.64 a year.

Thomas is running as a Republican, and has a long history of working for Republicans and the party in North Idaho. Prior to serving as the chief deputy treasurer, Thomas was the North Idaho regional director for U.S. Sen. Larry Craig.

Thomas was a Republican precinct committee person from 1993 to 2010. She was the treasurer for the central committee from 1993 to 2002, and received its outstanding volunteer of the year award in 2003.

Thomas also served on the state's redistricting committee in 2001 and 2002.

In her current position, Thomas said she is responsible for management of the office and personnel, setting annual goals and budgets, tax billing and distribution, as well as purchasing securities for the county's investment portfolio.

"When I started 13 years ago, we had 11 employees in the office," she said. "Today, through efficiencies and attrition, we have seven. We work as a team, cross-training our employees so statutory requirements are always met."

She intends to continue providing quality service while remaining fiscally responsible.

As the chief deputy she has been involved in several professional organizations. For the past six years Thomas has been president of the Tax Users Group of Thomson Reuters, an international group of government agencies using tax and assessment software.

Additionally, Thomas serves on several county management and oversight committees, where she has established professional relationships with the elected officials, chief deputies, department heads and employees.

Thomas has been married for 35 years to husband Mark and has two grown daughters, Amanda and Tara. She also has one son-in-law, John Arts.