Susan Fagan, whose work for Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories means she’s not a stranger in Olympia, has raised more than $20,000 in her run for the state House seat now held by Rep. Don Cox, R-Colfax. The district covers a large swath of southeastern Washington, including the Palouse and part of southern Spokane County.

“I am thankful that, given the difficult economy, people realize having an advocate in Olympia who understands agriculture and job creation is worth investing in,” Fagan said in a press release.

Fagan’s trying to tap into the district’s heavy ag vote by forming “Farmers for Fagan,” chaired by Farmington’s Bruce Nelson, a former president of the state wheat growers’ association.

Pat Hailey of Mesa, the wife of late state Rep. Steve Hailey, has also said she’ll run if Cox doesn’t in November. Cox was appointed recently to the seat after Steve Hailey died suddenly from cancer.

Lawmakers must speak well of Olympia to their family members.

Yesterday, the state House of Representatives welcomed new Rep. Laura Grant-Herriot, D-Walla Walla, who was appointed to the seat recently vacated by her late father, Rep. Bill Grant.

Now Pat Hailey, wife of former state Rep. Steve Hailey, R-Mesa, says she’ll run for the seat held by her late husband. Steve Hailey died of cancer in December. Former state Rep. Don Cox agreed to come out of retirement to take over Hailey’s spot.

On a recent visit to Olympia, “many of Steve’s colleagues in the House encouraged me to run and have offered to endorse me,” said Pat Hailey. She said she traveled extensively with her husband on campaigns and legislative work, getting a feel for the sprawling 9th district and the people who live there.

Owner of a family farm and a former school employee, Hailey was elected to North Franklin school board in 2005, resigning last October because she’d expected to be in Olympia with her husband for the session. She’s a Republican precinct committee officer.

Hailey said she’s talked over her plan with Cox, who she said hasn’t decided whether he’ll run this year for the seat. If he does, Hailey said, she’d drop her bid this year and happily volunteer to campaign for Cox — but that she’d still plan on running in 2010.

Former state Rep. Don Cox, a Republican from Colfax, may be headed back to the statehouse.

Cox, 69, who stepped down two years ago in order to spend more time with his family, is local GOP officials’ top pick of three replacements for late state Rep. Steve Hailey, R-Mesa. Hailey, who’d been battling colon cancer for the past year, recently died.

The top three contenders — who will be decided by commissioners from the six Eastern Washington counties that make up legislative district 9 — are:

1) Don Cox
2) Jeff Holy
3) Hans “Jochen” Engelke

Holy, 53, is a longtime attorney and Spokane police detective who lives in Cheney.

Engelke, 51, is a farmer from the Mesa, the same small Franklin County community as Hailey.

Cox, who served in Olympia from 1999 through 2005, is a former principal and school superintendent who specialized in education policy in Olympia.

The sprawling district covers the Palouse and much of southeastern Washington, including all or part of half a dozen counties: Adams, Asotin, Franklin, Garfield, Spokane, and Whitman. Key cities: Colfax, Colton, Connell, Othello, Ritzville, Cheney, Pullman and Clarkston.

Hat tips: Tri-City Herald and Adam Wilson.

-In a discussion of the significance of an anti-Building-Industry-Association-of-Washington-button at a Democratic fundraiser, horsesass.org writer Josh Feit offhandedly mentions Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and Congressman Jay Inslee as gubernatorial candidates in 2012. Writes Feit: “I was talking to a Democratic state Senator about the 2012 governor’s race. We were handicapping state Senator Lisa Brown’s (D-3, Spokane) chances vs. U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee’s chances, in what’s likely to be a bruising primary between the two anticipated candidates. And could either one beat GOP media darling, AG Rob McKenna?” -Rep. Steve Hailey, R-Mesa, is stepping down in January, citing weakness from cancer treatments. Elected in 2006, Hailey was just starting his second session this year when he was diagnosed with colon cancer. He spent most of the session at home, trying to keep up with legislative work in between chemotherapy. Hailey. 63, last week wrote to Gov. Chris Gregoire, saying “My health is such that I cannot represent the interests of my constituents in the fashion they deserve.” It’s increasingly difficult, the third-generation farmer and rancher said, to summon the physical strength to keep up with the demands of being a lawmaker. He said the treatment has been “tough but tolerable” and said he’s determined to beat the disease. “He leaves office with the same class and dignity in which he served,” said Rep. Joe Schmick, who also represents the mostly-Palouse 9th district. “I would ask that people keep Steve and his family in their thoughts and prayers.” -Politicker.wa has stopped updating its posts since last week and is apparently shutting down after a promising run as a one-stop, all-politics website. Olympian political editor Brad Shannon wrote: “Blogger Bryan Bissell at politickerwa.com just posted an item today, titled Goodbye, and Good Luck, saying he has lost his job. The Tacoma native said parent company politicker.com pulled the plug. The online news service was serving 20 states but is down to five, and the cuts came as a surprise, Bissell told me.” That farewell post has since disappeared from Politickerwa’s website. -Longtime Eastern Washington state Rep. Bill Grant, D-Walla Walla, has been diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. In an announcement to fellow lawmakers, Grant said that a lung biopsy in Seattle revealed the cancer and that he’d returned home to discuss treatment options. Note: We’re still working some of the kinks out of this new blogging platform, which is why the links in the above post aren’t showing up properly. Working on this…Also, I have no idea why Brown’s name is lower-cased in the tags. No slight intended. RR