State Legislature - 7th District
Two Republicans and a Democrat want to replace 7th District state Rep. Steve Fuhrman when he steps down at the end of the year.
Republicans Penny Rosenberg of Grand Coulee and Bob Sump of Republic will compete in the Sept. 17 primary for the right to battle Democrat Kurt Matter in November.
Matter is a heavy equipment operator and a former orchardist from Kettle Falls.
There is no primary contest for the 7th District’s other representative position. Incumbent Republican Cathy McMorris of Colville will face Democrat Brad Lyons, an Odessa farmer, in November.
Rosenberg, 49, hasn’t served in elected office, but was Lincoln County coordinator for Referendum 48, the property-rights measure voters defeated last November. She also has served on a committee that advises U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt on agricultural issues.
Rosenberg and her husband, Ron, have been cattle and wheat producers for more than 30 years and have operated a regional janitorial and grounds maintenance business for 10 years. They have three adult children.
“Over-regulation” of businesses, illiteracy, increasing crime, welfare reform and water rights are among the concerns Rosenberg hopes to address.
Sump, 55, also wants to reduce government regulation and is making his first bid for elected office. He is a heavy equipment mechanic for Echo Bay Minerals in Republic.
“We are over-governed, over-regulated and over-taxed,” Sump said. “And that comes courtesy of a government that is hundreds of miles away and a world apart in thinking.”
Sump is chairman of the conservative Ferry County Action League and a member of the Ferry County Cattlemen’s Association. He also is co-chairman of the Ferry County Citizens for Property Rights, which campaigned for Referendum 48.
Sump and his wife, Brenda, have three adult children.
, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: 7TH DISTRICT The mostly rural 7th District includes Stevens, Pend Oreille and Ferry counties and parts of Spokane, Lincoln and Okanogan counties.