Kootenai County Commissioner Rick Currie dropped by Hucks Central a few minutes ago to announce his candidacy as a write-in candidate for the seat he now holds against Republican Jai Nelson, who beat Chris Fillios and him in a three-way race in the spring primaries. You can read Rick's official announcement here and a brief interview with Hucks Online below:

• DFO: It's extremely difficult to win a write-in election. You must realize that. How do you intend to knock off a Republican who's on the ballot?
• Rick Currie: I am a Republican, too. I'm running as a Republican. There was an extremely low voter turnout in the primary. It was embarrassing. No candidate got near 40 percent of the vote. And you have a tremendous number of people out there who are not politically affiliated. We're going to get a lot more people voting. Citizens of Kootenai County deserve a choice.
• Rest of interview in drop-down box below

Question: What would Rick Currie have to do to beat Jai Nelson as a write-in candidate?

• DFO: I've heard that Chris Fillios  will support you. Is that true?
• Rick Currie: That's 110 percent true. If Chris had won, I would not be doing this. He would have served Kootenai County well. Chris is a very honorable man. We don't always agree on things. He's a good man.

• DFO: What is your specific problem or problems with Jai Nelson?
• Rick Currie: As I said, Chris is honest. He did not mislead the voters in any way re: his experience and his knowledge of the job. He didn't mislead them in reference to any of his history. He didn't mislead anyone in reference to the issues. She did. We'll get into that in the campaign.

• DFO: Are the people who encouraged you to run concerned with Jai Nelson's possible affiliation with the far right wing of the Kootenai County Republican Party?
• Rick Currie: That's a definite concern.
  

• DFO: How do you attract the money necessary to get the message out that you're a write-in candidate for your own seat?
• Rick Currie: I've never been a great fund-raiser. I've always run a low-budget campaign. I have trouble asking people from money. I'm going to need help with that. It will be the most expensive campaign I've run. I don't like to run expensive campaigns. I don't think that's right. In this case, I don't have a choice.