Stevens County incumbent prosecutor contested
It’s experience versus a fresh start as Stevens County voters consider two candidates in the prosecutor’s race.
Tim Rasmussen, who says people want a change, is challenging Jerry Wetle, who has held the office for 26 years.
“Experience is the message at the core of my campaign,” said Wetle, a Colville resident who served as a deputy prosecuting attorney for three years until his election in 1980.
“The choice for the voters is between someone who’s been a successful litigator at these kinds of cases and knows the jurors in Stevens County, and someone who hasn’t.”
He points out that that he’s secured 36 homicide convictions, including a 100 percent jury trial conviction rate in 16 of those cases.
Rasmussen, who lives in Nine Mile Falls, serves as a deputy prosecutor in Spokane County and works as a lead trial attorney in the prosecutor’s office for cases assigned to the District Court.
His message? Stevens County residents sense a need for change in the prosecutor’s office.
“They seem hopeful that there can be a change that will improve life for the average citizen. I’m more of a workingman’s prosecutor. I’m not a guy who’s connected with clubs and high school sports programs and Rotary and all that community stuff.
“I’ll prosecute people based on what they’ve done and not who they are. I think people sense that it won’t be business as usual with me.”
Wetle says he’s willing to stand on his record as a proven prosecutor who knows how to do the job.
“There haven’t been any big issues, any single thing precipitating a desire for change. I think it’s more an attitude of him (Rasmussen) feeling, ‘I can do it better.’ “
“I’ve operated an office where people want to work and feel good about their experience,” Wetle said. “Sometimes it’s hard to recruit attorneys to rural areas, but we’ve had success in that area.
“I’m also proud to have earned the trust of the Children’s Advocacy Center in my ability to provide good care for victims of assault and crime.”
Rasmussen says he became interested in pursuing office through his involvement in debate over the Stevens County Comprehensive Plan.
“As I talked with people, they began to talk with me, and I began to see a need for change that would encourage liberty and justice.
“A highway patrolman said to me, ‘I don’t know how anything works around here, but I know that if you’re somebody important, you don’t go to jail no matter what you do.’ And I think that’s the kind of thing that led me into the race, to try to correct that.”
Wetle acknowledged that some people want change, but said, “I think the majority would rather have a qualified person they know can do the job to carry on the responsibility of the office.”