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Candidate filing period scheduled for next week

CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 months, 3 weeks AGO
by CHERYL SCHWEIZER
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. | April 29, 2025 1:20 AM

EPHRATA — Twelve cities in Grant County will be electing mayors in 2025, city council and school board seats will be on the ballot, along with other jobs such as fire and hospital district commissioners. The filing period for the 2025 election is May 5-9. 

Kaylyn Orozco, certified elections deputy for Grant County, said candidates can file for office in person, online or by mail. In all cases, however, candidates must file between 8 a.m. May 5 and 5 p.m. May 9, whatever method is used. 

The mayor’s job will be open in Ephrata, Quincy, Mattawa, Soap Lake, Royal City, Grand Coulee, Wilson Creek, Electric City, Coulee City, Coulee Dam, Hartline and Krupp. 

Bruce Reim is the incumbent in Ephrata, Paul Worley in Quincy, Maria Celaya in Mattawa, Peter Sharp in Soap Lake and Michael Christensen in Royal City. Rob Herron is the Wilson Creek incumbent; Tracy Lesser in Krupp, Andrew Allsbrook in Hartline, Ruth Dalton in Grand Coulee, Diane Kohout in Electric City, Bob Poch in Coulee Dam and ShirleyRae Maes in Coulee City.  

City council seats are open in all cities. All council seats are at-large, meaning candidates can live anywhere in the city limits. 

Moses Lake will have four council seats on the ballot. The incumbents are Dustin Swartz, Judy Madewell, Deanna Martinez and Mark Fancher. The Soap Lake council also has two seats up for election after making the decision to downsize their council at the April 17 city council meeting. Prior to the vote, the council would have had to fill four seats. Karen Woodhouse, Kayleen Bryson and Andrew Arnold are incumbents, with the fourth seat remaining open still.  

One of four seats up for election on the Wilson Creek council is vacant. Incumbents in the three remaining seats are Kellie Ribail, Scott Mortimer and Raymond Kelby. Ephrata voters will be selecting four council members. Sarah McDonnell, Phil Borck, Matt Moore and Kathleen Harris are the incumbents. Four council seats are up for election in George, where Katie Schooler, Debby Kooy, Julia Schooler and Melissa Maldonado are the incumbents. 

Mattawa residents will select three council members. The incumbents are Siliva Barajas, Tony Acosta and Wendy Lopez. Three seats will be on the ballot in Quincy, where Jeff Spence, Andrew Royer and Dave Dormier are the incumbents. One of three seats on the Grand Coulee council is vacant. Tom Poplawski and Tim Snead are the incumbents in the other two seats. 

Ein Correia, Richard Heiberg and Mel La Fleur are the incumbents in the three seats open on the Coulee City council. The Coulee Dam council also has three seats open. The incumbents are Kevin Black, Merv Schmidt and John Adkins.  

Royal City residents will choose two council members; Rick Kannely and Stanton Fanning are the incumbents. Two seats are on the ballot in Warden, where Agapito Gonzalez and Omar Pruneda are the incumbents.  

Both Hartline and Krupp have two council seats open. Mark Frye and Goldye Moyer are the incumbents in Hartline, and Cecily Hendricks and Lori Friend in Krupp. Two seats will be up in Electric City, where the incumbents are Robbin Bryce and Donald Redfield.  

Four of the five seats on the Warden School Board will be on the ballot. The incumbents are Shane Cox, Tiffany Hymas, Bryce Cox and Shawn Clausen.  

All other school boards will have two or three seats up for election. 

Some school districts cross county lines, so voters in multiple counties will be casting ballots. Othello is one of those, with three school board seats up for election. Aaron Gerber, Ken Johnson and Lindsy Mollette Prows are the incumbents. Almira is another and also has three seats on the ballot. The incumbents are Todd Monson, Adam Florenzen and Rachel Barton. 

The Coulee-Hartline School District will have three seats up for election. The incumbents are Ryan Poe, Conor Jorgensen and Dawn Baergen. Grand Coulee School District also crosses county lines and voters in four counties will be electing three school board members. Those seats are held by Shannon Nicholson, Buffy Nicholson and Richard A. Black. 

Voters will be picking three school board members in Ephrata. Casey Devine, Jim Adams and Matthew Truscott are the incumbents. Two seats will be open in Moses Lake; the incumbents are Paul Hill and Ryan Coulston.  

Two seats will be up for election on the Wahluke School Board. Nick Trejo and Luke Jenne are the incumbents. Quincy voters will also be picking two for the school board. Kacey Kiehn and Chad Lower are the incumbents.  

Royal district voters will be picking two board members; the seats are currently held by Nasario Soliz Jr. and Alison Huntzinger. Two school district seats are on the ballot in Wilson Creek. The incumbents are Caleb McMillian and Cori Kane.  

Seven hospital districts in the county will have seats on the ballot, including Moses Lake, Quincy, Mattawa, Ephrata, Soap Lake and Grand Coulee. Commissioners will be elected in 10 of the county’s fire districts, with Moses Lake, Soap Lake, Mattawa, Quincy and Royal City among them. Ten of the county’s port districts will be choosing commissioners, including Quincy, Moses Lake, Ephrata and Mattawa.  

Water and cemetery districts, along with one park and recreation district, will be selecting commissioners. 

    The Moses Lake City Council seat held by Mark Fancher will be on the November ballot.
 
 


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