Two men who have mounted unsuccessful political campaigns in recent years, and who were both turned down to fill a vacant Spokane City Council seat last year, have filed to run in this year's council elections. 

David B. White and Kelly Cruz were among the 22 people who applied to fill the seat left vacant when Steve Salvatori resigned from the council and moved to Texas last year.

The northwest Spokane seat they are aiming for is currently held by Spokane City Councilwoman Karen Stratton, who was appointed to the position in August.

White is a Spokane County utilities inspector and was a Republican candidate for the state House in 2010 and 2012. He has become a common attendee at city council meetings, usually speaking in favor of more conservative positions and policies. He has praised the activism of the conservative group called the 8th Man. 

Cruz has also filed to run for a council seat in that district. Cruz, a former chairman of the West Central Neighborhood Council who ran for City Council in 2013 against Salvatori, also applied to fill the seat that went to Stratton. Cruz filed an ethics complaint with the city about the process to select Stratton, arguing that he had been given the wrong forms to fill out and Stratton's employment with the city clerk gave an "appearance of impropriety." The city's ethics committee turned his complaint down, saying there was no evidence of misdeeds.