Roskelley edges McKenna among Bloomsday politicians
Among the elected leaders and politicians running for office, it should be no surprise that John Roskelley won the race.
Roskelley, a candidate for Spokane County Commission, had the best Bloomsday time among all elected Spokane and Spokane Valley city leaders; state House and state Senate candidates for districts within Spokane County; Spokane County commissioner candidates; and gubernatorial candidates.
Roskelley is, afterall, a world-renowned mountain climber.
Here is the list of local politicians (plus a governor hopeful) who completed Bloomsday:
- John Roskelley, D, candidate for Spokane County Commission, 0:59:00
- Rob McKenna, R, candidate for governor, 1:00:21
- Amber Waldref, Spokane city councilwoman, 1:07:52
- Marcus Riccelli, D, candidate for state House, 1:08:27
- Steve Salvatori, Spokane city councilman, 1:17:00
- Amy Biviano, D, candidate for state House, 1:17:16
- Dennis Dellwo, D, candidate for state House, 1:20:08
- Tom Towey, Spokane Valley mayor, 1:28:14
- Brenda Grassel, Spokane Valley city councilwoman, 2:13:47
- David Condon, Spokane mayor, 2:41:52
- Michael Baumgartner, R, state Senator and candidate for U.S. Senate, 2:47:31
Most local leaders opt not to participate in Bloomsday. Many wave from the sidelines when they’re on the ballot, (candidate for state Senate, state Rep. Andy Billig, did so this year with a megaphone), but that doesn’t really count as participating in Bloomsday.
Mayor David Condon announced his bid for mayor last year by participating in last year’s race wearing a ‘Condon for mayor’ shirt. His predecessor, Mary Verner, was an official participant only three of the four Bloomsdays during her term.
Of course, it’s not shocking to see that some political participants opt in only when they’re on the ballot or in office. Verner didn’t participate this year. Former Mayor Dennis Hession hasn’t run it since he left office in 2007. Condon didn’t participate in Bloomsday the decade before he decided to run for mayor. Roskelley hadn’t run the race since 2004, when he finished in an extremely impressive 0:49:06.
Here is the full list of candidates we checked for Bloomsday results. Participants names have stars by them with their finish times. DNP means “did not participate.”
