State Representative, Pos. 1
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Marcus Riccelli (D) | 19,939 | 59.91% |
| Tim Benn (R) | 13,341 | 40.09% |
* 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.
About The Race
This is a rematch from two years ago. Democratic incumbent Marcus Riccelli is running on his first-term record of bipartisan collaboration and securing state dollars for projects such NEWTECH Skill Center, the North Spokane Corridor, the MAC and the Peaceful Valley Community Center. His focus is better access to education and expanding services for children and families. Challenger Tim Benn identifies himself as an independent Republican and is a small-business owner who wants to cut business taxes, which he says will create jobs and boost the economy. He is opposed to national education standards and believes public schools can do a better job with existing available funding.
The Candidates
Marcus Riccelli
- Party:
- Democrat
- Age:
- 45
- City:
- Spokane, Washington
Education: Graduated from Mead High School in 1996. Earned a bachelor’s degree in business admission from Gonzaga University in 2000 and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington in 2007.
Work experience: Worked as Eastern Washington Director for U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell from 2007 to 2010 and as senior policy adviser to state Sen. Lisa Brown from 2010 to 2012. Previously worked as an adjunct instructor at Eastern Washington University. Worked as project manager at CHAS Health for three years and currently the part-time community relations manager for CHAS Health.
Political experience: First elected to his current position in 2012 and re-elected four times. Currently serves on the health care, transportation, rules and capital budget committees. Serves as the House Majority Whip for House Democrats.
Family: Married to Amanda Marie Riccelli. Has two children.
Campaign finance: Raised nearly $198,000 as of Oct. 12, 2022, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Has received more than 100 contributions of $1,000 from unions, corporations, political action committees, tribes and others. Those contributors include Amazon.com, pharmaceutical firm Norvartis, pharmaceutical firm Pfizer, Anheuser Busch, Washington State Auto Dealer PAC, Kaiser Aluminum, Avista, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Washington Education Association PAC, Premera Blue Cross, Washington State Troopers PAC and State Employees International Union Local 925.
Tim Benn
- Party:
- Republican
- Age:
- 46
- City:
- Spokane, WA
- Occupation:
- Co-owner of day-care center
His words: "I don’t think a lot has changed. I still don’t see a City Council that’s focused on the issues that I’ve heard about over the years, being active in the community."
His pitch: A long history as a district resident and previous work lobbying City Hall for school safety measures in the northeast are both reasons voters should support Benn's candidacy, he said. He criticized the current City Council for focusing too much on ideological issues and being forced to backtrack on certain decisions when he said they stepped outside their authority. More needs to be done to inform residents in the district about planned construction ahead of completion of the North Spokane Corridor highway, he said, and the homelessness issue in the town should be addressed by restricting the flow of illicit drugs onto Spokane's streets.
Work experience: Owns a child day care center, Little Precious Ones, with his wife in the Minnehaha neighborhood of North Spokane.
Education: Graduated from Faith Christian Academy in 1996. Received associate degrees from Spokane Community College in general business, business management and marketing in 2005. Received child development associate’s degree from Blue Prints for Learning in 2011.
Political experience: Defeated in 2017 campaign for the northeast district seat by City Councilwoman Kate Burke. Defeated in 2012 and 2014 general elections as Republican candidate to represent Legislative District 3 in Washington House of Representatives, both to Marcus Riccelli. Current chairman of Minnehaha Neighborhood Council. Led effort to challenge day-care regulations that he says are duplicative and burdensome.
Family: Married. Two adult sons, and a daughter in high school.
Neighborhood: Minnehaha
Complete Coverage
‘Sheena’s Law’ a lifesaver, dad says
OLYMPIA – Six months after Sheena Henderson was shot and killed by her estranged husband at Deaconess Hospital, her father is urging state lawmakers to pass a bill that he believes could save others from the same fate. “Sheena’s Law” would enable law enforcement officers to get mental health experts involved more quickly in instances where they have concerns about someone who falls short of the legal threshold for being taken into protective custody. Supporters say it might have led to treatment for Sheena’s husband, Chris Henderson, who also fatally shot himself on July 8.
WSU medical school in Spokane gets legislative support
OLYMPIA – Identical bills that could pave the way for Washington State University to start its own medical school in Spokane were filed Wednesday in the Senate and House. Rep. Marcus Riccelli, a Democrat, and Sen. Mike Baumgartner, a Republican, introduced matching legislation to remove the provision in state law that gives medical school education exclusively to the University of Washington.
Inslee urges new taxes in state of the state address
OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday repeated calls for some new taxes, including one on carbon pollution to secure “a birthright to a healthy Washington.” Republican leaders countered that such a tax would be bad for business.
Spokane’s MAC considering return to not-for-profit
After another “flat” budget proposal from the state, leaders at Spokane’s Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture say it’s time for the institution to cut most formal ties with Olympia. The museum currently receives most of its annual $2.6 million operating budget from the state, and the 2015-17 budget proposal from Gov. Jay Inslee essentially maintains that level. If the museum’s vision of decommissioning itself as a state agency is acted on, the state would maintain the MAC’s buildings and facilities, and the museum would independently control its collections, fundraising and programming.
State legislators support new medical education model
The legislators backing Washington State University’s bid to establish its own Spokane-based medical school said Tuesday the rural doctor shortage is so severe the state needs more than one approach to physician training. “This is something that is long overdue,” state Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, said of plans to seek legislative removal of legal restrictions designating the University of Washington as the state’s only medical school.
Legislators want 1917 law revised to allow WSU med school expansion
A pair of Spokane lawmakers will propose legislation to establish the state’s second medical school in Spokane and put it under the control of Washington State University. Rep. Marcus Riccelli, a Democrat, and Sen. Mike Baumgartner, a Republican, are to unveil legislation this morning that would change a nearly century-old law that limits medical education to the University of Washington. Their proposal also provides $2.5 million for WSU to seek accreditation for the new school on the Riverpoint Campus, which would concentrate on family and rural medicine disciplines.
UW, WSU to end medical training partnership
The state’s two leading universities are parting ways over medical education and will compete in the Legislature for money to offer their own physician training programs in Spokane. Under an agreement announced Friday evening, Washington State University will push to establish an independent medical school at Spokane’s Riverpoint campus and withdraw from the five-state doctor training program operated in partnership with the University of Washington’s existing medical school. The University of Washington, meanwhile, will push for continued expansion of the five-state program’s Spokane branch and won’t oppose the WSU effort.
Bill to speed up newborn screenings heads to Inslee
OLYMPIA – Washington will require hospitals to get newborns tested faster for a wide range of diseases, and get those results back to parents sooner, under a bill sent to Gov. Jay Inslee. By wide margins, both chambers recently approved new standards for newborn tests and screening for certain rare diseases, requiring samples for the tests be collected within 48 hours of a baby’s birth and delivered to the state Department of Health no more than three days after they were collected. Births that occur outside a hospital are also covered by the bill.
North Spokane Corridor prospects bleak, legislators say
OLYMPIA – Don’t get your hopes up for new money to finish the north-south freeway, a group of business, civic and political leaders from Spokane was told Wednesday. The chances the Legislature will pass a package of big highway and bridge projects funded by a gasoline tax are almost nonexistent.