State Representative, position 2

Joel Kretz has easily maintained his seat in the mostly-Republican legislative district that represents a large portion of northeastern Washington. He first took office in 2004, and has run unopposed or easily defeated challengers. This race appears to be staying with tradition: Kretz garnered 78 percent of the vote against his opponent Mike Foster in the August primary election.

Foster, a registered Libertarian, decided to run this year because he’s “tired of the two party system.” He acknowledges that he doesn’t expect to win this round, but hopes to gain momentum to win a future election. If elected, Foster said he’d focus on lowering taxes through deregulation of some state departments and allowing outside insurers to offer their services to Washington residents.

Kretz is focused on a state Supreme Court ruling demanding that the Legislature increase education funding and is working on legislation that would curb the wild wolf population in the area, something he says has been a “crisis for some time.” He recently worked with legislators on a pilot program that allows the prescribed burning of land identified as potential problem during the summer fire season.