Spokane City Council president
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Breean L. Beggs (N) | 16,595 | 36.06% |
| Cindy Wendle (N) | 14,094 | 30.62% |
| Mike Fagan (N) | 12,178 | 26.46% |
| Phillip Tyler (N) | 3,157 | 6.86% |
* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.
Featured Candidates
Breean L. Beggs
- Party:
- No party
- Age:
- 61
- City:
- Spokane, WA
Why he’s running: Beggs is running for a second term amid what he believes is a wave of momentum behind the city. “Spokane is, right now, what I call ‘in play.’ It can really take the next step, and the momentum is strong. I’m someone who brings people together, especially from opposing viewpoints. I have enough knowledge with 3 three and a half years on the council to really facilitate moving forward together.”
His pitch: In his three-plus years on the City Council, Beggs believes he has established himself as a member who brings people together from opposing viewpoints and finds compromise. Beggs has been deployed to find common ground in the city’s approach to emergency communications.
Education: Graduated from Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington. Earned a bachelor’s degree from Whitworth University in 1985 and a law degree from University of Washington School of Law in 1991.
Political experience: Beggs was first nominated to fill a vacancy on the City Council in 2016. He won election to that same seat in 2017. He lost the race for Spokane County prosecutor in 2014.
Work experience: Beggs, an attorney, worked as the director of the Center for Justice from 2004 to 2010. He represented the family of Otto Zehm in a lawsuit against the city. Works as a private practice attorney in Spokane with Paukert & Troppmann PLLC.
Family: Married. Has three children.
Cindy Wendle
- Party:
- No party
- Age:
- 50
- City:
- Spokane, WA
Why she’s running: Cindy Wendle is running for City Council president to put people first, put politics aside, and ask why the city does the things it does.
Her pitch: Wendle’s inexperience in city politics is an asset, she believes. The current council members seeking the presidency are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, Wendle argues. She has positioned herself as a nonpartisan candidate for a nonpartisan race. She’s also the only woman seeking the job.
Education: Graduated from Pullman High School in 1992 and the University of Washington with a business degree in 1996.
Work Experience: Co-owner, along with her husband, Chud Wendle, of Northtown Square, a shopping center opened in 2009 on the site of the former Wendle Motors dealership. Works as commercial real estate manager for Northtown Square. Previously helped Washington Trust Bank expand with new branches in Pullman, Moscow, and Lewiston, before managing the main branch in Spokane.
Family: Married. Has three children.
Mike Fagan
- Party:
- No party
- Age:
- 64
- City:
- Spokane, WA
Why he’s running: Fagan is running to help Spokane maintain the same character it had when he grew up in the city, but also move it forward and navigate its growth.
His pitch: Fagan describes himself as a constituent-facing elected official who has listened to the concerns of residents during his first two terms on the Spokane City Council. Unlike other council members, he says, he does not focus on “social issues” and does not have an “agenda.”
Age: 59 Jan. 1, 1960
Education: Graduated North Central High School in 1978.
Political experience: Fagan has served two terms on the City Council. Former president of Bemiss Neighborhood Council.
Work experience: Co-director of Voters Want More Choices, a group led by Tim Eyman that advocates for lower taxes. Worked as a purchasing officer of a communications company in California in the late 1980s until the mid-1990s. Worked at MOR Manufacturing in Post Falls, including as materials manager, from 1997 to 2007. Served in U.S. Army from 1978 until 1987. Co-hosts radio show about local politics.
Family: Married. Has three children.
Complete Coverage
Council president race gets less civil, with Wendle defending doctored photograph, PAC calling her ‘reptile’
Cindy Wendle used a distorted photo of Breean Beggs in a recent mailer, and Wendle was the target of a recent uncivil ad calling her a “hollow-eyed reptile.” While Beggs condemned the attack on his opponent, Wendle defended the mailer.
City Council president candidates Breean Beggs and Cindy Wendle on the record, on the issues
The Spokesman-Review asked the candidates for Spokane City Council president a series of questions about city policy and priorities in an attempt to glean further insight into their priorities and positions.
Ads for Beggs, Wendle offer different take on crime
A new ad for Cindy Wendle laments the sharp rise in drug-related crime in downtown Spokane. But a new ad for her opponent, Breean Beggs, celebrates a decrease in crime of more than 15% citywide. They’re both right.
As campaign ad shows Baltimore homeless camp, Cindy Wendle says she doesn’t recognize Spokane
In a 30-second spot released this week by a candidate for Spokane City Council president, a brief scene shows a row of tents shaking in the wind. But the footage appears to have been taken in Baltimore, not Spokane.
Spokane’s response to homelessness dominates mayoral, city council president debate Tuesday night
Whether it was Nadine Woodward and Ben Stuckart for mayor, or Breean Beggs and Cindy Wendle for City Council president, candidates for public office laid out different plans for addressing Spokane’s population living on the streets at a Pints and Politics debate downtown Tuesday.
Beggs touts specifics, Wendle collaboration, in race for Spokane City Council president
Breean Beggs has detailed solutions for Spokane’s most pressing issues. But Cindy Wendle asks why, if he’s an effective leader, haven’t they already been implemented?
Spokane Proposition 2 would outlaw a local income tax, as courts weigh legality of Seattle measure
Sponsor Michael Cathcart said the measure is intended to make sure the city remains competitive in business recruitment.
Homeless to be left in the cold as Condon, City Council trade jabs over lack of adequate shelter space
Mayor David Condon acknowledged that the city will not have adequate shelter space when cold weather hits this weekend. The Spokane City Council and mayor held dueling press conferences on homelessness on Wednesday.
Shawn Vestal: Realtors and other rich interests are pouring money into funds to back Nadine Woodward and other Spokane candidates
As special-interest money pours into local elections, do donors with $50 to contribute deserve 100 or even 1,000 times less free speech than the deep pockets? What about people without even that?
Northeast Spokane guaranteed a conservative councilman, so Benn, Cathcart highlight experience
Preview of the city council race between Michael Cathcart and Tim Benn in the northeast.
Spokane mayor, city council president hopefuls debate homeless issues at library forum
The candidates for mayor and city council president debated the city’s approach to homelessness at a forum at the Spokane Public Library on Thursday.
Candidate forum on Spokane homelessness slated for next week
Homelessness will be the topic of debate between mayoral and City Council president candidates at the downtown Spokane Public Library on Sept. 5.
Spin Control: Light voting precincts a problem for Fagan
Northeast Council District’s light voter turnout was weakness for Mike Fagan’s council president bid.
Spokane City Council president race narrows to contest between two very different candidates
The picture that emerged on Tuesday night remained essentially unchanged after more votes were counted Wednesday in the primary election for Spokane City Council president, setting up a contest between a sitting council member campaigning on his record and a newcomer who believes a reorientation is needed.
Hillyard Festival still growing after more than 100 years
The Hillyard Festival featured 80 retail booths and 11 food vendors — more than double the amount in 2015. Future iterations of the festival could include carnival rides and games.
Stuckart and Woodward find almost equal financial support, but in different places
Ben Stuckart and Nadine Woodward have raised – and spent – nearly the same amount of money in their campaigns for mayor. Both describe their base of support as diverse, but criticize the source of the other’s funding as representing outside interests.
Study examining moving downtown Spokane police precinct delayed by City Council
The city council is expected to vote on a resolution that would ask the city to study the feasibility of returning a police precinct to the heart of downtown.
Police give City Council input on downtown policing resolution
Members of the Spokane Police Department and City Council met Thursday to discuss whether relocating a police precinct to the heart of downtown would be the best way to accomplish their shared goal of boosting officer presence downtown.
Shawn Vestal: Building a bigger, better Spokane County Jail won’t necessarily solve overcrowding issue
Every release from the Spokane County Jail, from the least serious to the most, from allegation to conviction to dismissal, tells a different story. But we apply the same blunt tool to every one: a jail cell, at a daily rate of $133.
Spokane council members suggest moving police precinct back to heart of downtown
Four years after the city of Spokane moved its downtown police precinct away from the Spokane Transit Authority’s headquarters, City Council may explore the feasibility of bringing a precinct back to the heart of downtown and boosting police patrols on foot and bicycle.