Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker was reelected Tuesday night. 

Tucker (right) was leading defense lawyer Frank Malone 33,111 to 28,322 with 37 percent of ballots counted.

Meanwhile, Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor Jim Reierson campaigned for write-in votes despite the fact that he wasn’t eligible to win the race because he lost in the primary. 

After complaining that the newspaper was ignoring his campaign, Reierson (left) backed out on a planned interview with a reporter on Tuesday, saying he wanted to enjoy the nice weather instead.

“I apologize for not calling you this morning, but I just did not feel like it,” Reierson said. 

Jim Camden has the full story at the Spin Control blog.

Dave Stevens, a Republican who lost his bid this summer for Spokane County prosecutor to incumbent Republican Steve Tucker and Democrat Frank Malone, said Wednesday that he cast his vote for Malone in the November election.

Jon Brunt has the full story at the Spin Control blog.

Past coverage:

Feb. 18: Stevens releases letter to Tucker

The Democratic challenger for Spokane County prosecutor on Monday called for the Washington State Patrol to take over the investigation into the fatal shooting of a Spokane Valley pastor.

Spokane lawyer Frank Malone said he had not contacted the WSP, but noted they were already involved in the investigation of the Aug. 25 shooting by Deputy Brian Hirzel as part of a protocol that is designed to avoid having a department investigate itself. “

This investigation is already compromised,” Malone said. “The deputy being allowed to go on vacation was ill-advised and created an unnecessary appearance of coziness with the legal system. The deputy is as interested in a credible investigation as anybody else. He doesn’t want this cloud hanging over him, either.”

Read Tom Clouse’s full story here.

When defense attorney Chris Bugbee (right) addressed a room full of Republicans in June, he told them that he not only intends to defeat incumbent Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker (left), Bugbee said he intends to retire from the office. 

The bold prediction not only illustrates Bugbee’s quick emergence as a front-runner but how contentious the primary contest has become. 

The five-way race also features Republican David Stevens (right), Democrat Frank Malone (bottom right), unaffiliated candidate Jim Reierson (bottom left) and Tucker, a Republican, who has repeatedly said that his opponents don’t understand what it takes to manage 140 employees and points to his experience as the reason he is the best choice.

All of the candidates are experienced lawyers.

 “I am the only one with law enforcement experience. I have more management experience than all the others and more time in the prosecutor’s office,” Tucker said. “It gives me a better base to make decisions.”

 But Bugbee, who up until 2002 worked under Tucker, deadpanned: “What good is experience if you are not actually doing the job?”

 Bugbee, 43, has raised twice as much money as his closest rival – Tucker – and has racked up the most influential law enforcement endorsements, landing the Spokane Police Guild, the Spokane County Deputy Sheriff’s Association and the Fraternal Order of Police, which is made up of retired law enforcement.

Read the rest of Thomas Clouses’s story here.

Read more about the candidates here.

A testament to the popularity of Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich may be the level to which candidates for Spokane County prosecutor are seeking his support.

The situation came to a head last week when incumbent Steve Tucker announced during a debate that he had the support of Knezovich (pictured).

Asked to clarify that support, Tucker made it clear that the sheriff has not endorsed his candidacy.

But Tucker’s opponents – fellow Republicans Chris Bugbee and Dave Stevens, Democrat Frank Malone and unaffiliated candidate Jim Reierson – all said they believe the average voter may not know the difference between support and an official endorsement.

Read the rest of Tom Clouse’s story here.

The Spokane County Deputy Sheriff’s Association has endorsed defense attorney Chris Bugbee for the race for Spokane County Prosecutor, according to a campaign news release.

Bugbee, who is currently defending double-homicide suspect Justin W. Crenshaw, said he was informed of the decision late Wednesday. It adds to his list of endorsements that includes the Spokane Police Guild, the Fraternal Order of Police, Local Lodge #20mand a split endorsement from the Republicans of Spokane County.

However, incumbent Steve Tucker earned the other half of the endorsement from the Republicans of Spokane County. But, Deputy Prosecutor David Stevens received the official Republican Party endorsement.

Tucker, Stevens, and Bugbee, all Republicans, face Democrat Frank Malone and Jim Reierson, who has no political affiliation, in the August 17 primary election. The two candidates with the most votes will advance to the general election.

By Thomas Clouse

A Democrat is joining the race for Spokane County prosecutor.

cklLongtime local attorney Frank Malone confirmed his bid to challenge Prosecutor Steve Tucker today. Meanwhile, Tucker , who is scheduled to meet Wednesday with Deputy Prosecutor David Stevens, whom Tucker suspended earlier this month after Stevens announced his own bid to run for prosecutor.

“We are going to consider options,” Tucker said last week.

Stevens said he doesn’t know what will happen with his job status. He’s been a deputy prosecutor since 2002 and said he makes $86,000 a year.

“I wonder how much this week has cost. I’ve been paid a week to stay home and it’s not my vacation time,” Stevens said last week.

The flap began two weeks ago after Stevens announced his candidacy by criticizing Tucker’s leadership, calling and referred to him as an “absent administrator.”

Tucker questioned why the public should pay continue paying someone to run against his boss and wrote to Stevens that he “violated behavioral standards by not effectively communicating with other county employees and not getting along with other co-workers and managers.”

Malone did not blatantly echo follow Stevens’ “absent administrator” comment, lead as calling Tucker an “absent administrator” but he did allude to Tucker’s lack of public presence.

 “I like his management team,” Malone said of Tucker. “But I would be coordinating with other county officials. I would be out in the community. The community loves (Sheriff) Ozzie Knezovich because he’s out there all over the place. That’s what you do to get public support.”

 Malone, 67, has been an attorney since 1985. The graduate of Gonzaga University School of Law also served 27 years in both the Air Force and Air National Guard. During his career, Malone served as a navigator in both B-52 bombers and later the KC-135 tankers during the Vietnam and Desert Storm wars, he said.

Malone makes the third candidate in a race in which the filing deadline does not expire until June 11.

“A couple of months ago, I was hanging around the courthouse and there was considerable dissatisfaction with how the criminal justice system, which is 80 percent of the budget, was working,” Malone said. “It occurred to me that there might be some support for someone with management experience and with the toughness to handle the problems at the courthouse.”

Malone currently practices both criminal defense and family law, and most recently has been working to help distressed homeowners caught in the housing crisis, he said.

 The two candidates with the most votes in the Aug. 17 primary, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the November general election.

 Tucker defeated incumbent James Sweetser in 1998 and then ran unopposed in 2002 election. In 2006, Tucker defeated challenger Bob Caruso, who ran as a Democrat but was not endorsed by the local party.

 Malone said he will seek his party’s nomination.

 Amy Biviano, the chairwoman of Spokane County Democrats, said she’s thrilled that Malone has chosen to challenge Tucker.

 “I know he’s a great guy,” Biviano said. “He has a lot of experience and would be a very qualified candidate.,”