Candace Mumm, who took over Nancy McLaughlin's seat on the Spokane City Council in 2013 after McLaughlin was forced out of office by term limits, has filed to contest the Republican's new seat on the Spokane County Commission.

Mumm filed Tuesday as a Democrat to run for the commission seat, according to records from the Washington Public Disclosure Commission. McLaughlin was appointed in February to replace Todd Mielke after the longtime commissioner took the job as chief executive officer for Greater Spokane, Inc. 

Mumm said she wanted to bring "a little more emphasis on cooperating between the cities and the county."

Her experience at City Hall - as council member, as neighborhood advocate and on the Plan Commission - will help the commission focus on city issues, she said.

"I have a very long record of working to improve neighborhoods, parks, schools and business districts," she said.

One of McLaughlin's opponents for the appointment, Josh Kerns, has also filed to run for the seat as a Republican, according to state records. The district encompasses the northern portion of Spokane County. District residents vote in the August primary, where the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the November election. All county residents vote in the November general election.

Mumm, a former news broadcaster and current small business owner, won her Spokane City Council seat with 54 percent of the vote over Michael Cannon in November 2013. McLaughlin last ran for office in a November 2012 bid for the Washington State Senate seat held by incumbent Andy Billig. Billig defeated McLaughlin with 58 percent of the vote. 

Mumm is seeking to be the first Democrat to represent Spokane County's northern district since John Roskelley in 2004.  

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