The Spokane County Republican Party plans to go to court this week in an effort to block the county commissioner campaign of Democrat John Roskelley.

The county GOP filed a challenge to Roskelley's current voter registration on Friday, and asked Auditor Vicky Dalton to remove his name from the ballot for the District 1 commissioner race, where he is challenging incumbent Republican Commissioner Todd Mielke. But an auditor has no authority to strike a name from the ballot, Dalton said, and the party will have to convince a Superior Court judge to take  him off the ballot.

“This is a very clear-cut case,” Matthew Pederson, county GOP chairman said, contending Roskelley is trying to “deceive voters” with the address.

“It's just politics,” said Roskelley.

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The number of contenders to replace state Sen. Bob McCaslin is growing but efforts to get the seat filled quickly were derailed Thursday.

Saturday’s meeting to nominate possible replacements was postponed after a group supporting a leading contender, Rep. Matt Shea, called for a major demonstration outside the gathering to make sure County Commissioners heed the will of the people.

A group called Spokane Patriots Minutemen sent out an e-mail to members calling for a “flash mob for liberty” to gather outside the New Life Assembly Church Saturday morning, where 4th Legislative District precinct committee officers had been scheduled to nominate three possible replacements for McCaslin, who resigned Jan. 4 for health reasons after 30 years in the Senate.

Members of the group were encouraged in the e-mail to form a large, vocal crowd holding signs with a common theme: “Commissioners, listen to the people! Defy us and you WILL be voted out of office!”
  

In a close vote on Saturday, the Spokane County Republican Party replaced it chairwoman with the former mayor of Airway Heights. Precinct committee officers voted 91-85 for Matthew Pederson, a current Airway Heights city councilman, over the incumbent leader, Cindy Zapotocky. Heading into the race, Zapotocky was seen to have backing from the grassroots of the party while Pederson was supported by many elected Republicans, including Spokane City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin. Supporters of Zapotocky said she was a tireless advocate for GOP candidates and stood up for concerns from the grassroots. Opponents argued that she was divisive and unable to bring unity to the party. Pederson said Saturday evening that he’s confident that the party will unite with the new leadership team. The party elected Laurie Roth, a conservative talk show host based in Elk, vice chairwoman. Roth has backing from some Tea Party supporters and on her Web site accuses President Barack Obama of attempting to turn the United States into a communist-style regime.

A hand recount of the Airway Heights ballots confirmed that Councilman Patrick Rushing defeated Mayor Matthew Pederson by two votes for the city’s top elective spot.

Final tally was the same as the machine count: Rushing 281, Pederson 279. There were 33 ballots that didn’t have a mark for either candidate.

The mayor’s title is largely ceremonial in Airway Heights which has a city manager form of government. The main job is running the city council, and the job appeared on the ballot as Council Chair, Position 1.

The results of this month’s Spokane County election were certified on Tuesday, but the counting isn’t over.

Elections officials next week will recount by hand votes in the race for Airway Heights mayor.

City Councilman Patrick Rushing’s lead over incumbent Mayor Matthew Pederson grew in the latest tally to two votes.