Fairfield Mayor
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| KayDee Gilkey | 149 | 75.63% |
| Derek Knecht | 48 | 24.37% |
* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.
The Candidates
KayDee Gilkey
- Age:
- 56
- City:
- Fairfield, Washington
- Occupation:
- Reporter for Aginformation Network
Education: Graduated from Washington State University with a bachelor’s in agriculture communications.
Political experience: Served six years on the Fairfield Town Council. Has served four years as mayor of Fairfield.
Work experience: Current director of industry image for Washington State Beef Commission. Worked for five years as a farm broadcaster for Ag Information Network of the West. Worked 16 years with Northwest Farm Credit Services in the marketing department.
Family: Married. Has one child.
Derek Knecht
- Age:
- 53
- City:
- Fairfield, Washington
Education: High school graduate. Two years of community college studying Business and Financial Management.
Job experience: Worked for eight years as Fairfield public works director. Journeyman carpenter. Served on the Fire Dept. as an EMT-B/Firefighter and as the Emergency Medical Services Director. Collectively worked for more than 10 years as head wrestling coach for Liberty Junior High and Liberty High School.
Knecht did not respond to some requests for information.
Complete Coverage
In November election, former Fairfield public works director challenges mayor who fired him
Derek Knecht has said he wants to be the mayor of Fairfield to “bring back honesty, integrity, accountability and transparency.” Anonymously, others have insinuated that he’s running with “vengeance in mind.”