Farmer, Mechanic Square Off In Statehouse Primary

Lincoln County businesswoman Penny Rosenberg has some important support in the race to replace 7th District state Rep. Steve Fuhrman, but Ferry County mechanic Bob Sump has some important money.

Sump and Rosenberg, making their first bids for elected office, are competing for the Republican nomination in the Sept. 17 primary. The winner will face Stevens County heavy equipment operator Kurt Matter in the Nov. 5 general election.

Matter is unopposed in the Democratic primary.

There is no primary contest for the 7th District’s other state representative position. Incumbent Republican Cathy McMorris of Stevens County and Lincoln County Democrat Brad Lyons will advance to the general election.

Rosenberg, 49, has support from the Colville Confederated Tribes and the Spokane Tribe, whose reservations cover a large portion of the 7th District. She also has the endorsement of former 7th District Sen. Scott Barr, a fellow Republican who farmed for 43 years in Lincoln County before moving to Colville.

On the other hand, Sump, 55, has the support of the district’s important mining and timber industries - and a much larger campaign treasury. He is a heavy equipment mechanic for Echo Bay Minerals in Republic.

Public Disclosure Commission reports show Sump had collected $2,608 from four mining companies, three timber companies and Washington Water Power by Aug. 12. Rosenberg’s largest reported contributions from organizations were two $500 donations from the Colville and Spokane tribes.

Rosenberg, who is not Indian, grew up on a ranch on the Colville Indian Reservation, near Nespelem. Now she and her husband, Ron, live on Lake Roosevelt between Grand Coulee and Wilbur on land that has been in their families for a century.

Besides raising cattle and wheat, the Rosenbergs run a three-state janitorial business that employs 20 people.

Water issues are a high priority for Rosenberg, who has served on the Lake Roosevelt Forum and the Lake Roosevelt Water Quality Management Council.

Rosenberg also was on a committee that advises U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt on agricultural issues. And she was Lincoln County coordinator for Referendum 48, the private-property measure voters defeated last November.

Rosenberg believes her business and agricultural experience and her lifelong residency give her an edge in protecting the 7th District’s economy and property rights: “I don’t support agriculture, I live agriculture out here.”

But Sump notes he is the son of a logger and has been a businessman. He said he also is familiar with issues that affect ranchers.

Sump is running on a platform of “property rights, Second Amendment (gun) rights, local control of our schools, empowering our county commissioners and repeal of the (state) Growth Management Act.”

He considers the Growth Management Act unconstitutional because an unelected appeals board can override decisions by elected officials.

“I just don’t believe in circumventing the will of the citizens,” Sump said.

For the past three years, Sump has been chairman of the conservative Ferry County Action League.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE JOB The 7th District includes Stevens, Pend Oreille and Ferry counties and parts of Spokane, Lincoln and Okanogan counties. State representatives serve two-year terms and are paid $27,100 a year.