Kerns to seek state Senate seat

Josh Kerns, a former legislative aide and campaign manager, said today he'll apply for the open state Senate seat in Northeast Washington's 7th District.

Kerns, 27, was a legislative aide during the last session to state Rep. John Ahern, managed the campaign of Ahern's replacement Representative-elect Jeff Holy, and once served as an intern to U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. He describes himself as an “action-oriented advocate of property rights” and someone who won't take as much time to get accustomed to the job because of his experience as a legislative aide.

He has lived in Mead all of his life, but the area has been moved around by legislative redistricting every 10 years. Until this spring he was in the 6th District but the redrawing of lines put him in the 7th,which is where it was in the 1990s after Spokane lost the 5th District which had that area in the 1980s.

Republican precinct committee officers from the 7th District will meet on Dec. 15 in Colville to nominate as many as three people to fill the seat. County commissioners from Spokane, Pend Oreille, Stevens, Ferry and Okanogan counties will meet sometime after Jan. 1, when Bob Morton's retirement becomes official, to select one of those nominees.

The district's two House members, Reps. Joel Kretz and Shelly Short, have said they will not seek a nomination to the Senate.