State Representative Pos. 2
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Shea (R) | 40,643 | 100% |
* 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
Matt Shea
- Party:
- Republican
- Age:
- 50
- City:
- Spokane Valley, WA
- Occupation:
- Lawyer
Education: Graduated from high school in Bellingham. Earned bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Gonzaga University in 1996. Earned law degree from Gonzaga in 2006.
Political experience: Elected to state House every two years since 2008. Serves as assistant ranking minority member on the House’s Labor and Workforce and Judiciary committees.
Work experience: Attorney at M. Casey Law since 2013. Formerly handled personal injury cases at Keith S. Douglass and Associates. Co-founded the Washington Family Foundation. Served 4 ½ years in the army, entering as a lieutenant in 1996, including eight months in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Later served 11 months in Iraq as a captain in the Army and Army National Guard.
Family: Divorced and remarried. No children.
Complete Coverage
State Senate nominee Murry arrested in Las Vegas
One of the three candidates to replace Bob McCaslin in the state Senate was arrested early Monday in Las Vegas after being found asleep in his car and allegedly carrying a concealed weapon. Roy Murry, 26, said Thursday he disputes much of what Las Vegas Metropolitan Police say happened when was found fast asleep shortly after 2 a.m. behind the wheel of a car. He’ll fight the charge if one is filed, and said his arrest “amounted basically to entrapment.”
Call for ‘flash mob’ thwarts meeting on Senate seat
As the number of contenders to replace longtime Spokane Valley state Sen. Bob McCaslin grows, efforts to get the seat filled quickly were derailed Thursday. Saturday’s meeting to nominate possible replacements was postponed after a group supporting a leading contender, state Rep. Matt Shea, called for a demonstration outside the gathering to make sure county commissioners heed the will of the people.
Washington has hefty agenda, but financial concerns top list
Washington’s Legislature starts Monday with a single-mindedness even some of its most senior members have never seen. Across party lines, and between the chambers, among freshmen and veterans, few will dispute the 105-day session’s top priority.
Vacationing voters give candidates a tough job
Among the most thankless jobs in the world is that of a political candidate in Washington state in the weeks before the August primary. The ability to continue the noble quest for elective office depends on voters who are just returning from vacation, on vacation or preparing for vacation.
McKenna fighting health overhaul
OLYMPIA – Washington’s Republican attorney general will join other states in a lawsuit against the federal health care reform plan, a move its Democratic governor denounced as “not representing the people of this state.” Attorney General Rob McKenna said Monday afternoon he questions the constitutionality of the health care reform package passed Sunday by Congress and soon to be signed by President Barack Obama. His was a rare discordant voice as other state officials praised the legislation as good for Washington and its troubled budget.
Bill would curb patient trips
Dangerous mental health patients would be barred from leaving state hospitals for most excursions without specific court orders under a bill the Legislature is considering. The bill, prompted by the escape last fall of an Eastern State Hospital patient, Phillip Paul, during a field trip to the Spokane County fair, got strong support Monday from legislators and a representative of the mental health community during a hearing in the House Human Services Committee.
Editorial: States’ rights bills waste lawmakers’ time, efforts
After the painful budget cuts of 2009, Washington and Idaho lawmakers are reconvening and contemplating more reductions. It’s serious business, but it is why they were elected. They were not sent to Olympia and Boise to second-guess the long history of federal court decisions that have formed the guidelines of federalism. And yet some legislators think the time is ripe to erect sudden barriers to federal involvement. We’ve all heard the complaint about judges “legislating from the bench.” This must be the flip side, with state legislators stepping outside their jurisdictions and areas of expertise to interpret the U.S. Constitution.
Bills invoke states’ rights
OLYMPIA – Conservative activists in Idaho and Washington are trying to force the federal government to keep out of issues such as guns, health care and the environment. Through legislation and initiatives, people aligned with what’s variously known as the 10th Amendment or State Sovereignty movement are trying to pass state laws that limit what the federal government can do within a state’s borders.
Lawmakers tout states’ rights
OLYMPIA – The time has come for people who believe in states’ rights to move from protest to political action, a Spokane Valley legislator told a crowd on the steps of the Capitol on Thursday. Rep. Matt Shea, a first-term Republican, told a crowd estimated at between 200 and 300 they need to rein in a federal government that’s becoming too powerful and too intrusive.
Olympia protesters call for reins on federal power
The time has come for people who believe in states’ rights to move from protest to political action, a Spokane Valley legislator told a crowd on the steps of the Capitol Building this afternoon.