County GOP will not support Stark

The Spokane County Republican Party shook up the already contentious race for county assessor on Thursday by disavowing GOP candidate Brad Stark.

The move came within hours of a heated showdown between Stark, incumbent Assessor Ralph Baker and members of the Ponderosa Republican Women’s Club, some of whom questioned the young challenger’s GOP credentials. Among those taking aim was state Sen. Brad Benson’s mother, who was upset Stark had contributed to the campaign of Democratic state Senate hopeful Chris Marr instead of her son.

Formal announcement of the Republican rejection came Thursday evening in a prepared statement saying that the county GOP’s 12-member executive board had “voted to not recognize” Stark, who also serves as a Spokane city councilman.

“After looking things over, we question his political affiliation,” said Nancy Mortlock, chairwoman of the county Republicans. “We were just as a board saying what our opinion is.”

The decision was made Wednesday evening, and essentially serves as a pre-primary party endorsement of Baker, a rare event in contested primary elections. Mortlock said there was a quorum in attendance and the decision was unanimous with one abstention.

Stark said he learned of the decision from a reporter’s phone call.

“This race shouldn’t be about ideology. This race is about customer service, leadership and fair and accurate property assessments.” Stark said in response. “A party that claims to be a big tent obviously isn’t.”

If Stark beats Baker, Mortlock said she is unsure how the party would deal with a nominated candidate whom the party has disavowed. The winner will face Democrat Judy Personett in the November general election.

Stark had asserted throughout the campaign that he is a fiscal conservative and a Republican.

But that hasn’t satisfied critics, who have pointed to his donations to Democratic candidates including Marr, and donations he made to the county Democratic Party in 2002 and 2003. Stark also served as an aide to Democratic state Sen. Lisa Brown in 2001 and gave to her campaign in 2004.

Stark has been endorsed by County Commissioner Todd Mielke and Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, both of whom are high-profile Republicans. He’s also received campaign contributions from many who support mostly GOP candidates, including Ziggy’s Building Materials founder Vern Ziegler and Duane Alton of Alton’s Tires.

Mielke was surprised by the decision and questioned Thursday how the GOP board arrived at its conclusion. Knezovich said he did not have enough information about the information the committee used to make the decision to comment.

Stark had faced a hostile crowd during a debate between him and Baker at the Ponderosa Republican Women’s monthly luncheon.

Responding to questions about his affiliation, Stark called himself a moderate and told the group he is not “the most right-wing Republican.”

“If you’re a Republican, I challenge you to give to Brad Benson,” Baker said.

Stark told the audience of about 30 that he gave to Marr, in part, because Marr asked him for a donation.

That didn’t play well with some in the audience, which included Benson’s mother, Susie Niswonger.

“I just can’t believe you would donate money to people you don’t believe in,” she told him.

Baker, who had been on the defensive during much of the campaign, was on offense at the debate, questioning Stark’s abilities and morality.

“This campaign has been a huge contrast between honesty and integrity and lies and deceit,” Baker said, citing Stark’s campaign mailings that accused Baker of banning citizens from his office. “How many of you believe we have banned people from the assessor’s office?”

Stark said he was taken aback by Baker’s comments and told the group he would work to earn their trust.

“Citizens deserve more from their assessor than personal attacks,” Stark said. “He’d rather offer excuses than service.”

Ballots for the primary election must be postmarked by Tuesday to be counted.