Palouse farmer to run for House

Tedd Nealey, a Palouse farmer and substitute high school teacher, said he will run this fall for an open seat in the state House of Representatives in southeast Washington’s 9th District.

Nealey, 59, said Wednesday he views the open seat created by the announced retirement of Rep. Don Cox as an opportunity to offer voters his experience in agriculture and education for a district that relies on both. The 9th District covers much of the Palouse and is the only legislative district that is the home to two state colleges, Washington State and Eastern Washington universities.

“I’m very pro-business,” Nealey, a Republican, said in an interview. “I’d be a watchdog for agriculture and business.”

One thing he’d consider if elected would be removing the state’s business and occupation tax, although he acknowledged he didn’t know how he would replace the more than $2 billion it provides to the state.

Nealey said he splits his time between the family farm near LaCrosse, where much of the land is in the Conservation Reserve Program, and a home near Cheney, where he lives during much of the school year. He works as a substitute teacher, primarily for Spokane Public Schools.

The largest portion of the state general fund budget is spent on education, and Nealey, who once served on the LaCrosse School Board, said he wonders if some of that money can’t be used more efficiently.

“If there’s a more viable way (than public schools) I’d be willing to look at it,” he said. But he added he doesn’t have any specific plans.

Nealey, who is married, has also served as the Whitman County president of the Wheat Growers Association, on the Farm Credit Service Board and a Bureau of Land Management Advisory Board. He is the son of the late Darwin Nealey, who served in the Legislature for 10 years, starting in 1982.

Steve Hailey, of Mesa, is also running in the Republican primary for the House seat.