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Spokane City Councilman Al French appears to be readying for a 2010 election, but what that election is, he won’t say.
“I look forward to serving as long as the public will allow me to serve,” French said in an interview on Thursday.
Earlier this year, rumors were rampant that French was leading an effort to change the City Charter’s term limit rules to allow him to run for City Council president or for a third term on the council. What those rumors neglected to consider is that even if the proposal made it on the November ballot (it didn’t) and voters approved, it still would have been too late for him to run in 2009, and another City Council president race doesn’t happen until 2011.
While French has been successful running in his northeast council district, he’s struggled in other parts of the city. He lost a city-wide council president race to Dennis Hession in 2003 and a city-wide mayoral race to Hession and Mary Verner in the 2007 primary.
He said today that he doesn’t foresee a future run for mayor.
“The window of opportunity was there. I took advantage of it. It didn’t work out, so we move on,” he said. What he’s moving on to, he won’t specify, but he wouldn’t rule out the state Legislature or any county office. If he decides to make a run, he plans to make an announcement by the end of the year, he said.
Some have guessed that French, who contributed last year to the county Republican Party, might run for Alex Wood’s state House seat in the heavily Democratic Third Legislative District. French said Wednesday he hasn’t done any polling to determine his viability in a Third district race, but he added: “If other people have done that, it’s up to others to say.”
By not ruling out any county office, a lot of jobs are in play. But most the speculation centers on French running for Bonnie Mager’s position on the County Commission. Based on recent history, a Republican candidate likely would have an easier path to victory running for a commissioner seat than in the Third Legislative District.
Or maybe he just wants to be the county auditor.
Stay tuned.
Jim Camden is a veteran political reporter for The Spokesman-Review.
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Ron_the_Cop on August 28 at 12:18 p.m.
OMG!
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Lulubelle on August 28 at 12:44 p.m.
Great…..and I was hoping he'd have the decency to just fade away into the sunset. Interesting though that he's added the Auditor's office to his list of possibilities…..I'd heard he might run in the 3rd LD for the Legislature, or against Bonnie Mager for the Commissioner position. I guess he's just fishing around for an elected office he figures he can win without regard to qualifications. Says a lot about that “public service” blood coursing thru his veins. What a putz.
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ChefGus on August 28 at 9:04 p.m.
Just remember that his stated top three reasons to be elected Mayor, as quoted in the Inlander Paper included “I am a trained Killer”….. not a joke…. i concur it is time for him to step out of the limelight… perhaps remaining on the STA advisory board.. but he continues to drag his feet even there when it comes to Light rail or fixed Route Rubber Wheeled transit on the approved rights of way… john
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MichaelCathcart on August 29 at 11:07 p.m.
If the Inlander reported it then it must be true…
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ChefGus on August 31 at 9:36 p.m.
Yeah.. a direct quote from Mr French in his response in a lengthy article interviewing all of the candidates near the primary election. John
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dick adams on September 01 at 12:56 a.m.
Where do guys like French get off? Never, I guess as long as the voters think he tells the truth, and then elect these kinds of sell outs who pander to special interest groups. The one good thing I will always remember about former editor Steve Smith is what he had to say about Al French. It proved, Smith was not all bad. Smith, talked about French coming to his office to seek a SR endorsement when French was running for political office and was running off at the mouth how well the Spokesman Review was run by Smith, but he pissed off Smith who then insulted the s– out of him.
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Lulubelle on September 01 at 7:39 a.m.
Al French is in it for Al French. He likes the fawning attention from his developer friends and needs the constant ego stroke. He's the poster boy for “old boy politics” in Spokane right up there with “Boss Hog” Phil Harris. It's time to show him the door too.
Bye Bye Al.
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