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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Wheat Farmer To Challenge Nethercutt Judy Olson Is First Announced Challenger For House Seat

Associated Press

Judy Olson, a past president of state and national wheat growers associations, said Friday night she intends to challenge freshman Republican Rep. George Nethercutt for his 5th District congressional seat.

Olson, a fourth-generation Whitman County farmer, said in a news release that she will seek the Democratic nomination for the seat representing Eastern Washington. She said she will formally announce her candidacy in mid-April and plans to spend the next month making visits throughout the district.

Olson is the first announced challenger for Nethercutt’s seat, which is up for election in November.

She said she intends to run a grassroots campaign.

“The people of the 5th District deserve and need their views represented in Washington D.C., not beltway policies and politics force fed from the top down,” Olson said.

Olson is past president of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers and the National Association of Wheat Growers.

Olson said her involvement in the groups has convinced her “that people can and should make a difference in government.”

Nethercutt emerged on the political scene in 1994, when he defeated Democratic House Speaker Tom Foley, who had represented the 5th District for 30 years.

It was the first election defeat of a sitting speaker in 132 years.

Olson and her husband, Rich, raise wheat, barley, and lentils near Garfield, where they have farmed for more than 20 years.

The couple have three grown sons.