State Legislature - 3rd District

Spokane’s busiest political turf this year is the 3rd Legislative District, where nine candidates are vying for three statehouse seats.

Seven political novices are competing for the district’s two open House positions while two veteran lawmakers duel for its lone Senate spot.

The candidate stampede has bombarded the district’s 102,000 residents with yard signs, telephone calls and doorstep campaign pitches.

The most competitive primary race is for 3rd District House Seat No. 2, where Spokane attorney Lonnie Sparks, a Democrat, was appointed to fill Dennis Dellwo’s vacated seat in July.

Neighborhood activist Jeff Gombosky and retired child welfare worker Val Smith have also run aggressive campaigns for the party’s nomination.

The winner faces Republican Ken Whitehall, who vows to get tough on juvenile criminals.

In the other 3rd District House race, two Republicans are jousting for a shot at Democrat Alex Wood, the former KXLY talk show host.

Republicans Asa Jay Laughton and Brendon Hill both want to change the way public schools are run to return more control to parents.

The 3rd’s heavyweight bout is the Senate race that pits incumbent Republican John Moyer against Democrat Lisa Brown, a two-term state representative.

Neither candidate faces any primary competition.

Wringing campaign dollars out of voters has proved difficult in one of the state’s poorest districts, a traditionally Democratic stronghold where two out of every five citizens receives some form of welfare or other public assistance.

, DataTimes MEMO: See individual profiles by name of candidate.

This sidebar appeared with the story: THE JOB The 3rd Legislative District covers most of downtown Spokane and the city’s core housing areas, including the West Central and East Central neighborhoods. State representatives and senators are paid $27,100 a year.