Legislature 3Rd, 4Th, 6Th, 7Th, 9Th Districts

Here is a look at the legislative races in northeastern Washington.

3rd District

In the Position 1 race, Republican Andrew Lesofski is challenging incumbent Democrat Alex Wood.

Lesofski, 25, has run for office once before - in Montana where he unsuccessfully tried for a state House seat. He wants tax cuts for small business, bolstering education - though he doesn’t as of yet have a specific plan - and finding a way to deal with the large number of sex offenders in Spokane. His vision for economic development is to bring heavy industry to town.

Alex Wood is seeking his third term. He sees the state in pretty good condition and would like to ride out many past legislative changes in health care and education to see how they fare before making new changes. He wants funding for the construction of the North-South Freeway and treatment for problem gamblers.

The race for Position 2 pits Republican newcomer Michael Parks against Democrat Jeff Gombosky, who seeks his third term.

Parks, 40, is a small business owner who’s worked a variety of jobs and feels he’s in touch with the working class of the 3rd District. He wants to make state government more accountable, seeing I-695 as an important message sent by the people.

Gombosky, 29, was raised in Spokane since he was 3 months old. He’s worked in the 3rd District as an Americorp VISTA employee. He is the youngest member of the House and seen as one of its rising stars. Having focused on child care issues during his last election he has turned his attention to economic development, especially in the areas of health care and high technology.

4th District

Two political newcomers are vying for the 4th District’s Senate seat, which has long been held by incumbent Sen. Bob McCaslin.

McCaslin, 74, worked for Kaiser Aluminum and as a real estate agent before taking office 20 years ago. The Republican incumbent is proud of his deep roots in the Spokane Valley. He opposes raising taxes and wants to see the Growth Management Act overturned.

Substitute teacher and retired Army officer Jim Peck, 56, filed for the seat after other Democrats considering the position did not file. He thinks McCaslin has lost touch with constituents and become ineffective. Peck’s campaign has focused on improving public education, health care for all residents and property tax reform.

Libertarian and Liberty Lake resident Rob Chase, 47, said he decided to run for office because taxes are too high. They are affecting families and children because both parents have to work to meet the growing tax burden. He supports limited government and individual liberties.

The race for House Position 1 pits incumbent Republican Larry Crouse against political newcomer Carol Ford-Duncan, a Democrat.

Crouse, 56, worked for Kaiser Aluminum before he was first elected to office in 1994. He believes taxes are too high and government spends too much money on bureaucracy. He wants the state’s portion of the property tax bill eliminated. He supports charter schools and education vouchers.

Ford-Duncan, 46, decided to run for office after lobbying for extended unemployment benefits for locked-out Kaiser steelworkers last year. She has worked for Kaiser for 28 years and believes Crouse has lost touch with constituents. She supports Gov. Gary Locke’s direction on education, health care coverage for all residents and finding a way to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

Retired gang and narcotics detective John Kallas, a Democrat, is taking a second run at incumbent Republican Rep. Lynn Schindler for Position 2.

Kallas, 48, lost the race to Schindler in 1998 but he’s determined to win this time. He wants a police officer in every school and sentence reforms to offer drug users a chance at rehabilitation. He also supports extended health insurance to every state resident and opposes school vouchers and charter schools.

Schindler, 56, wants to help 4th District families by lowering their taxes and giving parents more choices for education. She supports phasing out the state’s property tax levy and wants the state to use the sales tax on autos and car parts dedicated to funding transportation projects.

6th District

In Position 1, voters can chose for a second time between incumbent Republican Brad Bensen and Democrat Bernie Nelson. The two faced off in 1998, with Benson easily winning.

Benson, co-chairman of the House Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, is campaigning as a fiscal conservative who would like to see tax cuts and government downsized to spur the local economy. Benson, 41, has criticized school administrators and boards for being too swayed by the teachers union.

Nelson, 72, is seeking expanded worker training as an economic development tool, and enthusiastically supports the direction of public education. He is also campaigning to expand drug coverage to low-income seniors.

In the Position 2 race, more than $100,000 has been raised in the fight for a vacant seat both state parties view as critical to control of the House.

Democrat Jack Geraghty is campaigning on his four decades of local political experience and to spur economic development. He is also promising to push for further consumer protection of medical and financial information.

Republican John Ahern is a firsttime candidate and small businessman who wants to see taxes and regulations reduced. He also suggests privatizing some state social services and transportation functions.

7th District

In the conservative 7th District, incumbent Republican Reps. Cathy McMorris and Bob Sump had strong primary leads over Democratic challengers Gary McKinney and Ron McCoy.

While Chewelah Mayor McCoy and United Steelworkers activist McKinney promise changes for the better, Sump and McCoy think they’re already delivering what voters want.

McCoy is running against Sump, who is seeking a third two-year term in the House. McKinney hopes to unseat McMorris, who was appointed in January 1994 and has twice been elected to new terms.

Sump, 59, retired about 1-1/2 years ago from his job as a heavy equipment mechanic for Echo Bay Minerals in Republic so he could devote full time to his legislative duties.

McCoy, 43, said he is leaning toward resigning as mayor if he is elected to the Legislature. He quit his part-time job at Safeway earlier this year to study legal administration under a vocational rehabilitation program because of a wrist injury.

McMorris, 31, also is a student, enrolled in the University of Washington’s executive master of business administration program, which requires her to be in Seattle three days a month. She grew up in Kettle Falls and lives in Colville.

McKinney, who will be 54 on Sunday, is the lead machinist at Kaiser Aluminum’s Mead smelter, where he has worked for 26 years. He has never before run for public office, but is a member of the board of Steelworkers Local 329 and served three years as president of a homeowners association at Loon Lake, where he has lived about 25 years.

9th District

The races pit three longstanding Republican incumbents against two Libertarian candidates and a Democrat.

Republican Mark Schoesler, 43, is hoping to keep his House seat in the district’s position 2 so he can protect funding for rural schools and support agriculture. His opponent, Libertarian John Gearhart, is no novice to state candidacy, but this is the first time he is running for this seat.

For the other House Seat, political newcomer Mike Johnson is hoping his place on the Democrat ticket and his efforts to reach new voters will bring him to Olympia. But incumbent Republican Don Cox believes his experience and understanding of the district will lead to his re-election.

Republican Sen. Larry Sheehan believes his position won’t be threatened by his Libertarian opponent, Randall Keeney, who has run a minimal campaign.

This sidebar appeared with the story: LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS

Here is a guide to the legislative districts. State senators serve four-year terms, representatives two-year terms.

3rd District: includes most of downtown Spokane and the city’s core housing areas, including the West Central and East Central neighborhoods.

4th District: includes the Spokane Valley and part of northeast Spokane County.

6th District: runs from Moran Prairie on its southeast border to Nine Mile Falls on its northwest border, and includes parts of Airway Heights and Five Mile Prairie.

7th District: includes Lincoln, Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties, and portions of north Spokane and east Okanogan counties.

9th District: includes all of Whitman and Adams counties, south Spokane County and the Clarkston area of Asotin County.