MOSES LAKE — Joshua Freed, a candidate for governor, visited Civic Park in Moses Lake on Wednesday to lay out his plans for addressing a number of key issues, drawing an audience of nearly 100.

Freed, who is a former Bothell City Council member, took a unique approach to campaigning, tag-teaming the event with Chris Leyba, candidate for state auditor, Matt Larkin, candidate for attorney general, and Marty McClendon, candidate for lieutenant governor.

Together, the four Republican candidates talked not only about what each would do if they individually got into office, but painted a picture of the state’s executive branch made up largely of conservatives.

The candidates regularly handed the microphone to each other to address issues that would involve multiple levels of government, including discussing the decentralization of political power and potential criminal prosecution of the incumbent officeholders for perceived abuses of power.

Local resident Carol Spurrier, who was in attendance Wednesday, said she was looking for candidates who shared the morals and values of the Founding Fathers and followed the state and U.S. constitutions.

“The group today I think are very well versed in government, how government works,” Spurrier said. “I think they know what our state and U.S. constitution reads, and I think that they’re willing to follow it.”

Spurrier said that while she described herself as conservative, she had never voted a straight party-line ticket, and would vote for the person she felt held the same values as herself. After hearing Freed speak Wednesday, she said she would rank him along with Loren Culp, police chief of Republic, and state Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, as her top three candidates for governor.

Another attendee, Ruby Gaston, also said she was impressed by what she heard from the candidates, particularly Leyba and Freed. She said that she felt that the state and country were not being well served by Democrats and wanted to see Inslee out of office.

“I want a conservative governor, someone that’s going to be straight up and honest and fight for the people instead of basically fighting for themselves,” Gaston said. “The condition of our country today, we’re in a sad situation.”

“But with people like I heard today, they all sounded pretty solid, like good Christian believing gentlemen that would be doing the right thing for our state, fighting for the people,” Gaston said.

Gaston said she consistently voted for conservative candidates and was encouraged by Freed’s stance against abortion. She said she felt also that state Democrats were being dishonest about the number of people becoming sick or dying due to the COVID-19 disease, adding that she felt that state leaders had mishandled the pandemic by shutting down schools.

“I think they need to let those students go back to school and be as normal as possible. I don’t think those kids should have to wear masks all day long,” Gaston said. “I think they’re dumbing these kids down, and they’re turning this country into a socialist country.”

Paula Hochstatter, who attended the event with her husband, former state senator and former gubernatorial candidate Harold Hochstatter, said she was impressed with the slate of candidates that came to Moses Lake on Wednesday and with the turnout they had generated.

Like Gaston, Hochstatter said she was looking for a candidate who is Christian and would “turn to God for wisdom.” She was also encouraged by comments from the candidates indicating they would decrease the state’s bureaucracy and their own power and give the reins to elected officials and the legislature.

“I think the government in a lot of this, and in other states too, the governors have overstepped their bounds, putting restrictions on churches, and I think the school stuff needs to be left up to the individual school districts,” Hochstatter said. “We have individuals we have elected to make those decisions, and the governor needs to recognize that.”