Candidate filing opens Monday
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 months, 3 weeks AGO
Grant County Auditor’s Office employees Aleanah Lopez, left and Robin Rutty, right, count ballots in the November 2023 election. Next week is the candidate filing period for the 2024 election.
FILE PHOTO
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | May 2, 2024 4:30 PM
EPHRATA — Two countywide elected positions in Grant and Adams counties, county Superior Court seats, all local state representatives and some state senate seats will be up for election in 2024. Two positions also are up for election on the Grant County PUD board. Candidate filing week is next Monday through Friday.
Countywide elections are contested in even years in Washington. For 2024 Grant and Adams counties each have two commission seats on the ballot. In Grant County they are commission Districts 1 and 2; Danny Stone is the incumbent in District 1 and Rob Jones in District 2.
Commission District 1 includes Ephrata and Soap Lake, Coulee City, Grand Coulee and the surrounding towns, Wilson Creek and the section of the county directly east of Moses Lake. District 2 includes Moses Lake, Warden and the area south of State Route 17 to the Grant-Adams county line.
Commission districts 1 and 2 also are up for election in Adams County. The incumbents are Dan Blankenship in District 1 and Jay Weise in District 2. Commission District 1 encompasses most of Adams County, including Ritzville and Washtucna, excluding the town of Othello. District 2 includes the area south and west of Othello to the Adams-Franklin county line.
All three Grant County Superior Court judge positions will be up for election. The incumbents are Anna Gigliotti, Tyson Hill and John Knodell. So is the only Adams County Superior Court position. The incumbent is K. Peter Palubicki.
Two Grant County PUD commission seats are on the ballot, Commission District 1 and one at-large position. Judy Wilson is the incumbent in District 1, and Tom Flint is the incumbent for the at-large seat. Utility district commission district 1 includes Ephrata, Soap Lake, Wilson Creek and the communities in the Grand Coulee area. There are two at-large PUD districts; District A is up for election, and includes Quincy, the Mattawa area and Royal City.
After years of discussion, revised maps and a lawsuit, new boundaries for Washington Legislative districts were approved by a federal judge in March. The new boundaries mean a shift to a new district for a lot of residents in both counties.
Most of the Othello area moves back to Ninth District, from its previous inclusion in the 15th District. A section east and south of Othello moves to the 13th District from the 15th.
The Mattawa-Desert Aire area was moved back to the 13th District from the 15th. A section of the Wahluke Slope was moved to the 16th District from the 15th. The revised 13th District was enlarged to the north, and now includes a section east of State Route 17 that had been in the Seventh District.
All state representative seats are up in 2024. The 13th District incumbents are Tom Dent and Alex Ybarra, and Mary Dye and Joe Schmick are the incumbents in the Ninth District. The 16th District incumbents are Skyler Rude and Mark Klicker. Dent has already stated that he will run for reelection.
The Ninth and 16th Senate seats also are on the 2024 ballot. The incumbents are Mark
Schoesler in the Ninth District and Perry Dozier in the 16th District.
Eastern Washington’s two U.S. Congressional seats are on the ballot, and Adams County is split between District 4 and District 5. Dan Newhouse is the incumbent in District 4 and Cathy McMorris Rodgers in District 5. One of the state’s two U.S. Senate seats also is on the ballot. Maria Cantwell is the incumbent.
Three state Supreme Court seats will be up for election. The incumbents are Susan Owens, Steve Gonzalez and Sheryl Gordon McCloud. State voters also will be choosing a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, insurance commissioner and commissioner of public lands.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
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