Tough race for Cheney council

Cheney voters must decide three contested City Council races in the Nov. 6 general election.

Doug Nixon is challenging – and, so far, outpolling – incumbent Councilman Patrick Rast. Nixon had 52.3 percent of the vote in a three-way primary, compared with Rast’s 27.6 percent.

Annette Mather has an even bigger primary advantage over Tim Gainer in their bid to replace retiring Councilman Les Harris. Mather had 56.7 percent of the vote in a five-way primary, compared with Gainer’s 16.4 percent.

It was supposed to have been a four-way primary, including write-in candidate Bonnie Jeccles, but Raymond Gawenit dropped out too late to remove his name from the ballot.

In the third contested race, incumbent Councilman Robert Stockton and challenger Rich Crystalwolfe Baker, are meeting for the first time in the general election.

Here is a glimpse at the candidates:

“Nixon, 61, is a longtime Farmers insurance agent who moved to Cheney about 8 1/2 years ago from Everett. He has a bachelor’s degree in business from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. Nixon and his wife, Kris, have two adult children.

“Rast, 57, has worked at Eastern Washington University for 27 years – as a biology technician and, for the past seven years, as an electrician. He has attended San Diego Community College and EWU. Divorced, Rast has two adult children.

“Gainer, 44, is the brother of Mayor Allan Gainer. He has been system engineer for a local cable company, Davis Communication, for 25 years. Gainer has an associate degree from ITT Technical Institute in Spokane. He and his wife, Louise, have a 16-month-old daughter.

“Mather, 43, attended Spokane Falls Community College and Spokane Community College and has lived in Cheney most of her life. Mather is a “program assistant” in the SFCC Security Department and an unpaid reserve officer in the Cheney Police Department. Married to Dave Mather, she has three adult children – 20-year-old triplets.

“Baker graduated from high school in Sussex, N.J., and has lived in Cheney for five years. He is the manager of general-audience books at the Tree of Knowledge Bookstore in Cheney. Baker also offers alternative health treatments, which he says he has been studying since he left the Army in 1985.

“Stockton, 58, is a dentist. He is completing his first four-year term on the council. Stockton and his wife, Shawnna, have two adult children – one still in college – and have lived in Cheney for 25 years. He earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and pharmacy from the University of California at Los Angeles and Idaho State University, and a doctor of dental surgery degree from the University of Washington.