Wells Quickly Ends Run For Congress ‘This Is Not The Right Time,’ She Says, Startling Backers

Less than two weeks after announcing a run for Congress, Julie Wells surprised supporters and Democratic Party leaders by dropping out of Eastern Washington’s 5th District race.

Wells, co-owner of a Spokane property development and management company, said she was unable to campaign full time for the position and meet business commitments.

“This is not the right time for me,” she said Wednesday. “I guess I had not realized how time consuming this would be.”

She said she would support Wayne Brokaw, one of two candidates in the Democratic primary.

Spokane County Democratic Chairman Ken Pelo said he was shocked by Wells’ decision.

“I didn’t hear of anyone that was really dissatisfied with her,” he said. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out for her.”

Wells talked briefly about running in late February, then said she wouldn’t run because of business commitments. In early March, she said she would run and last week visited Washington, D.C., to talk with Democratic leaders and possible sources of campaign money.

“I didn’t think I would ever have anything in common politically with Dale Foreman,” she joked Wednesday, referring to the former state GOP chairman who quit the governor’s race Tuesday after less than two weeks.

Brokaw, a human resources manager at Acme Materials and Construction Co., said he also was surprised by Wells’ decision, but didn’t know if her quick entry and exit would affect the race.

“I don’t know if she was in long enough to have any impact,” Brokaw said.

Carpenters union executive Tom Flynn, the other Democrat in the race, also said it was difficult to determine the impact of Wells’ decision to quit and endorse Brokaw.

“I wasn’t running against Julie. I’m running against George Nethercutt,” Flynn said.

Nethercutt, a three-term incumbent, faces Richard Clear in the GOP primary.