Meet the candidates

Democratic candidates for House of Representatives, 7th District, Position 1:

Michael ‘Buffalo’ Mazzetti

Personal: 56; divorced, with three adult children. Has lived near Havillah, about 10 miles northeast of Tonasket in Okanogan County, since 1974.

Education: Graduated from high school in Highland, N.Y. Earned a bachelor’s degree in food science from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1972.

Professional: Served in the Army as a specialist from 1969 to 1971. Has been a chef and an organic farmer most of his life, and managed the Okanogan River Natural Foods Co-op in Tonasket from 1985 to 1990. Worked five years counseling teenagers. Has operated Okanogan County Highlands Bottling Co. since 1999. The company sells water in bottles that people can use to send pro-environment messages to politicians.

Political: Mazzetti helped craft the Nuclear Free Okanogan County advisory ballot measure that passed in 1986. He got 38 percent of the general election vote in 1990, when he ran for Okanogan County commissioner as a Democrat.

Key issues: Would “insist on corporate responsibility” for pollution and reintroduce previously rejected legislation to establish a deposit on beverage bottles to encourage recycling and reduce litter. Considers health care a human right, and favors legislation to encourage use of alternative power sources.

Money raised: None reported to the state Public Disclosure Commission.

Jack Miller

Personal: 56; married with one son; lives on a small ranch south of Medical Lake in Spokane County.

Education: Graduated from Everett High School in Everett in 1965. He attended Everett Community College and earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Washington in 1969.

Professional: After attending college and serving in the Army, he became an air traffic controller about 1977. Fired by President Reagan in 1981 along with other union members on strike. Operated his own landscaping businesses and then earned master’s degree in computer science from Eastern Washington University in 1988. Since then, has worked at Whitworth College for 16 years, mostly as director of information systems.

Political: Democratic precinct committee officer.

Key issues: Jobs, health care, education – which are “all tied together” – and individual freedoms. Too many people don’t have jobs, and rising health-care costs are “reaching crisis proportions.” With extra-large high school graduating classes on their way, state budget cuts are forcing public universities to cut enrollment.

Money raised: $5,548.

Republicans for Position 2:

Joel Kretz

Personal: 47; married with a son; has lived on a ranch near Wauconda since 1990.

Education: Graduated from Mercer Island High School. Attended Green River Community College in Auburn and Olympic Community College in Bremerton.

Professional: Self-employed since 1981, operating his own logging company. Kretz now raises horses, cattle and timber, and still does a little logging.

Political: Republican precinct committee officer. Serves on the Okanogan County Water Resource Inventory Analysis Committee and the Okanogan County Wildlife Services Committee. Past president of the Okanogan County Farm Bureau.

Key issues: Wants to eliminate “too many layers of regulation stifling business.” Improve funding for core government services. Considers tort reform essential in medical malpractice cases to control health costs.

Money raised: $24,317.

Sue Lani Madsen

Personal: 48; married with an adult daughter; lives on a small ranch in the Edwall area of Lincoln County. Madsen and her husband operate Healing Hooves, a weed-control, meat and fiber business involving a traveling herd of 200 sheep and goats. She has been an assistant battalion chief in the Edwall Volunteer Fire Department.

Education: Graduated from Ferris High School in Spokane and earned a bachelor of architecture degree from Washington State University in 1978 as well as a bachelor of science degree in architectural studies.

Professional: Madsen has been a licensed architect since 1981, specializing in commercial and institutional projects including rural hospitals, school districts and other community organizations.

Political: Served as chairwoman of the Reardan Planning Commission in the early 1990s before moving to Edwall.

Key issues: Improve the economic climate for small businesses. Reduce the business and occupation tax for new businesses, and overhaul state worker-compensation requirements. Wants to improve the viability and availability of rural health care.

Money raised: $16,530.

Mike Hanson

Personal: 60; married with two adult sons; lifelong resident of the Diamond Lake area in Pend Oreille County; active in the Peaceful Valley Community Church and has served as an elder. Chairman of the board of the Sandpoint Crisis Pregnancy Center.

Education: Graduated from Newport High School and attended Eastern Washington University for two years, studying industrial technology.

Professional: Hanson and his wife have operated The Harbor resort on Diamond Lake for more than three decades.

Political: Ran unsuccessfully for Pend Oreille County commissioner in 1976 as a Democrat, then for auditor in 1988 as an independent. Shifted to the Republican Party by 1992, when he was elected commissioner. Hanson is now completing his third four-year term.

Key issues: Target state taxes and regulations to improve the economy and create jobs. “I believe that we need to make Washington state competitive to bring investors of capital to create jobs,” he said. Wants state and federal lands to produce more income, and wants to limit welfare payments. Also wants the Legislature to support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

Money raised: $1,247