Candidate filing week is nearly finished, and many races in Spokane County aren’t contested

Elections are a time for choices, and for many, the only time they learn the names of their local elected leaders, if for no other reason than that boon for local print shops and the bane of everyone else: roadside signs.

But for many races – so far – there won’t be much of an election, because only one person signed up for the seat.

Perhaps voters are fully satisfied with their incumbents, or perhaps only one person had the gumption to run, or else competitors are waiting for the last possible minute to file.

Whatever the reason, there are dozens of races with no competition and only a day left in filing week. If no one else files for these seats before 5 p.m. Friday, nothing save a write-in candidate fighting a steep uphill battle will stop the only person who did file from being able to celebrate election victory months before there is one.

There’s often not much competition for seats on those less-known boards for cemetery and water districts, and this year is no different. As of Thursday evening, there is no more than one candidate for all of these races, including the Milan, Moran and West Greenwood cemetery districts, and the Four Lakes, Irvin and Spokane County water districts.

And while school board races have become increasingly contested in recent years, many districts in Spokane County also don’t have a single competitive race. There is only one candidate for each of the races this year in the school districts of East Valley, Deer Park, Great Northern, Freeman, Medical Lake, Newport, Nine Mile Falls, Orchard Prairie, Reardan-Edwall, Tekoa, West Valley and, perhaps surprisingly, the Spokane School District.

City Council and mayoral races are often competitive, especially in larger jurisdictions – of the four races for Spokane Valley City Council and three for Spokane City Council this year, every one has at least two candidates. But that’s not the case for many of the county’s other municipalities.

It seems there’s job security this year for elected officials in Fairfield, Latah, Rockford, Spangle and Waverly, which all have seats up for election but do not have a single competitive race.

Other cities come close to a full slate of uncontested races, with only a single exception.

There are three council races up this year in Liberty Lake, but only position No. 6 is thus far contested, between Judie Schumacher and Arlene Fisher. Deer Park’s City Council has four seats up for election this year, as is the city’s mayoral seat, but again, only council position No. 6 has attracted two candidates, Tony Bailey and Robert Whaley.

Medical Lake has four council positions that are uncontested, though former Medical Lake Mayor John Higgins has thrown his hat in the race against incumbent Mayor Terri Cooper.

Countywide races, having the most potential voters and also the most potential candidates, are also often quite competitive. Longtime deputy county treasurer Mike Volz was appointed to the county treasurer position in February, filling a seat vacated by now-U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner. As such, he has to run for election this year to fill the rest of Baumgartner’s term, which runs through 2026.

Whether because of the complicated duties of the gig, out of respect for the experienced incumbent who was the top unelected official in the office for several years, or simply because someone is waiting to the last minute to file, no one has filed to run against Volz as of Thursday.