Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley joins crowded field for Valley legislative seats

Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley is hoping to win a second public office.

She was one of four candidates who filed on Monday for a state Senate seat representing Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Green Bluff and northeastern Spokane County , after longtime incumbent Mike Padden announced last month his intent to retire when his term ends in December.

Candidates hoping to win public office in Washington began filing Monday to appear on the Aug. 5 primary ballot. The deadline to file is Friday. Candidates emerged Monday for most legislative seats in Eastern Washington as well as ones for Spokane County offices.

Among the five legislative districts that include Spokane County more candidates filed for Spokane Valley’s 4th district than any other.

The crowded field of candidates for the Senate seat in the 4th includes two Republican candidates currently serving in office: state Rep. Leonard Christian, who’s represented the district for the past two years, and Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley, who was appointed to the Spokane Valley City Council in 2016 and is currently serving her second term as mayor.

A Central Valley High School and Eastern Washington University alumnus, Haley has spent decades running child care facilities, including Rainbow Connect Daycare. She said she decided to run for the seat after seeing some of the other candidates. If elected, Haley hopes to address what she sees as a lack of local control and input over the decisions made in Olympia.

“I felt like I had some attributes that maybe they didn’t, and I don’t have some they have,” Haley said. “I’m all about service, and I feel like some of the things that we’re having challenges with the city are things that the state has actually mandated us. There’s a lot of unfunded mandates, there’s a lot of things that maybe don’t fit with Spokane Valley’s values that are being passed. I just feel like the district needs somebody that can fight for all those things.”

Haley has identified education, public safety and fiscal responsibility as important issues, in addition to tax relief and better returns on state taxes to local jurisdictions. She said she has not decided whether or not she will retain her seat on the City Council if elected to the Legislature.

If elected, Christian, 58, is focused on affordability, tax relief and creating safe communities by supporting law enforcement in the Senate. In an interview last month, he said that improving the K-12 education system is another key area of focus for him.

A Spokane native, Christian graduated from Ferris High School in 1984 and served in the U.S. Air Force for over 20 years. He and his wife, Rima, returned to Spokane Valley in 2005, where Christian has worked in real estate since.

Democrat Miguel Valencia, born in Spokane and raised in Othello, said in an email his campaign is rooted in genuine representation of the middle class. The U.S. Army veteran is committed to ensuring essential services to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, universal day care throughout the state and is an advocate for union workers.

Also vying for the Senate seat is Republican Mike Kelly, a Spokane Valley businessman and political newcomer who was named to the Spokane Valley Planning Commission earlier this year.

Kelly said in a statement his focus is on protecting families and addressing the increase of crime and the cost of living. He’s an advocate for a responsive and accountable government and is endorsed by Padden.

Spokane Valley Councilman Al Merkel has announced his candidacy for Padden’s soon-to-be vacant seat, but has yet to officially file.

So far, no one is challenging 4th District state Rep. Suzanne Schmidt, former CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors Inland Pacific Chapter, who filed for re-election the Position 1 seat Monday. Schmidt was elected to the legislature in 2022 and serves on the Labor & Workplace Standards, Postsecondary Education & Workforce and Rules and Transportation committees.

Three conservatives have entered the race for the Position 2 seat: 4th generation Green Bluff cattle rancher Michael Schmidt, former Spokane Valley Councilwoman Brandi Peetz and former Spokane County Treasurer and state Rep. Rob Chase.

Ted Cummings, a Kaiser Aluminum employee, is the lone Democrat in the race.

Michael Schmidt, who has no relation to Suzanne Schmidt, said in an interview he decided to launch his first political campaign to reinstate “common sense” in Olympia, to advocate for the younger generations and to represent the values and concerns of Eastern Washington residents.

If elected, Michael Schmidt said representing the agricultural industries of the state, bringing back local control of K-12 education and advocating for responsible development and public safety will be his key areas of focus.

“I’m a rancher; I’m a man of the earth,” Schmidt said. “And I just believe you know, common sense is still common on the ranch and farms. It’s not so common in everyday life anymore and there is some good common sense approaches to some problems that I think we could solve. I think everybody would join together and get behind some of those if they were presented in a common sense way.”

Chase previously was elected to the seat in 2020 and served one term before losing his re-election bid to incumbent Christian. He spent eight years as Spokane County treasurer and has unsuccessfully run for Congress, Spokane County commissioner and most recently, the Spokane Valley City Council in 2022.

While he’s held office as a Republican, Chase has libertarian leanings, and identified as a Libertarian during his 2002 Congressional run against Republican Rep. George Nethercutt.

Peetz spent six years on the Spokane Valley City Council and two as deputy mayor, in what was her first stint in office after being elected in 2016. The former 911 dispatcher opted not to run for re-election in 2023.

Peetz said in a campaign announcement that overregulation of local businesses by state lawmakers, “never ending” tax increases and the hope of bringing a new perspective to Olympia motivated her to run.

“I want to continue a tradition of strong and effective leadership, but bring a youth perspective with fresh ideas and perspective to help take a stand against the bad policy that is plaguing our communities,” the announcement reads. “I have made yearly trips to both Olympia and Washington DC and have established relationships both inside and outside of our district that would help me be successful and allow me to hit the ground running this next session.”

Peetz has identified public safety, education, clean energy, economic growth, tax relief and fostering a business friendly climate as her top issues, according to her campaign website.

Cummings unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 2016, the district’s Position 1 seat in 2018 and 2022 and Spokane County commissioner in 2020. He’s been a vocal critic of the Republican Party in past campaigns, and strongly opposed what he called advanced conspiracy theories on election fraud and COVID-19 vaccine validity held by far-right factions of the party.

3rd Legislative District

The 3rd Legislative District is undergoing a significant reshuffling this year, with incumbent state Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, announcing he would not run for re-election and state Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, choosing to vacate his seat to run to replace Billig. Riccelli filed for the seat Monday.

Two heavyweights in Spokane politics have previously announced bids to fill Riccelli’s seat, including former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart and attorney and interim Black Lens editor Natasha Hill, who ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers in 2022. Among the two Democrats, only Stuckart filed Monday, as did Republican and political newcomer Tony Kiepe, of Spokane. 

State Rep. Timm Orsmby, D-Spokane is the only legislator from the 3rd Legislative District who doesn’t appear to be going anywhere: He filed for re-election Monday.

6th Legislative District

State Sen. Jeff Holy has not yet filed for re-election, and neither has anyone else filed to run for his seat.

State Rep. Mike Volz, R-Spokane, hopes to be re-elected to a fourth term, having filed Monday. Steven McCray II, a junior at Eastern Washington University and president of the campus’ student Democrats group, has filed as a Democrat.

Spokane Republican state Rep. Jenny Graham, first elected to that seat in 2018, filed Monday for re-election. No opponents have filed thus far.

Spokane County Commission

All three incumbents in the Spokane County Commissioner positions up for election in November have filed to run again.

Commissioner Chris Jordan, a Democrat who represents the western half of Spokane, has filed to serve another term. Jordan was a lawyer with the Washington Attorney General’s Office specializing in child abuse cases before he was elected to the District 1 seat in 2022.

Commissioner Josh Kerns also filed for re-election to represent the largely rural District 3, which encompasses the northern part of the county and Spokane Valley’s northern half. Kerns, a Republican, has served on the commission since 2017.

Longtime Commissioner Al French will face a challenge from retired Air National Guard member Molly Marshall to represent District 5, which includes the West Plains as well as northwest Spokane and the South Hill above 29th Avenue.

French has been a fixture in Spokane politics for 20 years, spending eight years on the Spokane City Council in the 2000s before winning election to the county commission in 2010. If elected in November, it would be his fifth term on the commission. The architect by trade has touted his track record of fostering economic development, job creation and responsible development in past campaigns.

Marshall, a Democrat, is a political newcomer with endorsements from several area Democrats, including Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown and Rep. Timm Ormsby. Most of her time in the military was with the 141st Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base, which included deployments in the Gulf War, Operation Deliberate Force, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Marshall told The Spokesman-Review in March that her military experience, her two years co-leading the Citizen’s Action for Latah Valley and her experience on the Grandview/Thorpe Neighborhood Council has given her a strong background on important issues in the district, including transportation, public safety and development.