Valley lawyer running for state House

An attorney from Spokane Valley is entering the race for an open legislative seat in the 4th Legislative District.

Ray Deonier, 37, said Wednesday he would run in the Republican primary this August to replace Rep. Lynn Schindler, who announced recently she’s retiring.

Deonier, a graduate of Eastern Washington University and Gonzaga Law School, has lived in the Valley since 2002. He practices family law in the Spokane area.

Deonier said he has always been interested in government and considered the race a chance to do more than “sit back and complain.”

One goal if he’s elected would be to secure more state funding for transportation for Eastern Washington, so that Spokane and other communities get as much money for road projects as they pay the state in transportation-related taxes.

“We really don’t get our fair share over here,” Deonier said. He added he wouldn’t necessarily extend that standard to taxes and programs in which Spokane or Eastern Washington receives more money than they contribute.

He’d also like to find a way for the Legislature to revise the Washington Assessment of Student Learning so that school districts and parents, rather than the state, set standards for student testing.

An Army veteran, Deonier also wants to revise state custody laws to protect soldiers from losing custody of their children while they’re serving overseas.

This is Deonier’s first run for legislative office. He ran unsuccessfully in 1997 for mayor of Malden, in Whitman County.

Attorney Matthew Shea and Valley Councilwoman Diana Wilhite also have announced campaigns for the position.