Marcus Riccelli is comfortably in first place in the 3rd District House race, but three candidates are bunched up in the race for second place and a spot on the general election ballot.

As this map shows, Riccelli owes his first place standing to doing well in the western and southern precincts of the district.  Bob Apple ran strong in the northeast portions of the district, which correspond closely to his old council district. Tim Benn won a few of his precincts big, and Jon Snyder was strongest in the precincts in or near his south Spokane Council District.

For a closer look at the map, check out the PDF file.

Documents:

Democratic State Rep. Andy Billig made it official Thursday that he would run for re-election in the 3rd Legislative District.

Billig, the co-owner of the Spokane Indians baseball team, was elected to an open seat in 2010 in a crowded race. With just over two weeks before candidates file for office, he has no announced opposition.

He scheduled a campaign kickoff event for May 16, saying he wants to continue “to fight for our community's values like equal rights, justice and prosperity.”

The 3rd District covers much of central Spokane, including downtown, he lower South Hill, East Central, Logan, Hillyard and West Central. It's one of the state's most reliably Democratic districts.

Although Billig is the district's least senior legislator, his two seatmates have already drawn Republican opponents. Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown faces Spokane City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin and Rep. Timm Ormsby faces Dave White, who ran unsuccessfully against Billig in 2010.

Republican Matt Shea will seek a third term in the state House of Representatives, not the open seat on the Spokane County Board of Commissioners.

Shea had been mentioned as a possible contender for the commission seat that two-term incumbent Mark Richard said he was leaving last week. This morning, however, Shea scheduled his campaign kickoff for the House re-election campaign next Tuesday evening at Felts Field, saying he was grateful for all the encouragement to run for the commission seat but wanted to continue work in the Legislature.

“I feel I must stay and fight to remove the tangle of taxes and regulations that is causing businesses and jobs to move out of the Spokane Valley and the state of Washington,” he said in a prepared statement.

Shea won the hotly contested open seat in 2008 in the traditionally Republican 4th Legislative District in 2008, and ran unopposed in 2010. So far this year he has one announced opponent, Democrat Amy Biviano, a certified public accountant and former county party chairwoman.

The race for Richard's commission seat already has one announced Republican, Shelly O'Quinn, and two Democrats, former Spokane City Councilman Bob Apple and former television newscaster Daryl Romeyn, talking about possible campaigns.

Dave White, a county utilities inspector and Republican activist, will run for the state House of Representatives this fall in central Spokane’s 3rd District in an effort to rein in state spending and improve state infrastructure.
White, 59, said Thursday he’ll challenge Democratic incumbent Timm Ormsby, hoping to fare better than 2010 when he lost the race for the other House seat to Democrat Andy Billig.
“Two years ago, I was an unknown and got almost 40 percent with very little help,” he said. Since that time, he has served as a Republican precinct officer, been more involved in the political process and worked to keep the city from closing a branch library.
White criticized Democrats for wasting the public’s time by not passing a budget even though they hold majorities in both houses. “We keep spending money that we do not have,” he contended.
The solution is for Republicans to pick up enough seats in the House to get the majority there, then “put our politics aside and just do what is right.”
White is the first Republican to file for a legislative race in the 3rd, which usually is a strongly Democratic district. All three incumbents, Ormsby, Billig and state Sen. Lisa Brown, are seeking re-election.

For more about White's campaign platform, read his press release.

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OLYMPIA — Rep. Mark Miloscia, a seven-term legislator from Federal Way, announced today he will run for speaker of the House, challenging current speaker Frank Chopp of Seattle.

In a prepared statement, Miloscia said Democratic leaders haven’t been offering hope, fision or plans to address the faltering economy. “Not one significant piece of government reform has passed the last two years…This failure cannot continue.”

Miloscia currently serves as chairman of the House Audit Review and Oversight Committee. His challenge comes after Democrats have lost seats in the House, but still have a strong majority.

Senate Democrats, who also lost seats but retained their majority, re-elected Sen. Lisa Brown of Spokane over the weekend to majority leader in the upcoming session.

Republican challenger and former state Rep. John Ahern is comfortably ahead of incumbent Democrat in the 6th District House race. As this computer mapping of their vote totals shows, Ahern has large vote margins on the edges of the City of Spokane and beyond, while Driscoll’s strength is inside the city limits, particularly on the lower South Hill.

Andy Billig, the president of the Spokane Indians baseball, wants to play in a different league. He’s running for the state Legislature in central Spokane’s 3rd District.

As ballots were being cast and counted this week for the 2009 election, Billig filed papers with the state Public Disclosure Commission to run for the state House of Representatives seat currently held by seven-term incumbent Alex Wood. Both are Democrats.

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