Commissioner, District 1
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Josh Kerns (R) | 158,743 | 57.24% |
| Ted Cummings (D) | 118,583 | 42.76% |
* 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.
The Candidates
Josh Kerns
- Party:
- Republican
- Age:
- 39
- City:
- Mead, Washington
Education: Graduated from Mount Spokane High School in 2003. Earned associate degree from Spokane Community College in 2004 and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Whitworth University in 2006 and 2008.
Political experience: Elected Spokane County commissioner in 2016. Served six years as a legislative aide for state Rep. Jeff Holy and former state Rep. John Ahern. Previously served as a delegate to precinct caucuses and county and state Republican conventions. Has worked on Republican campaigns since 2008.
Work experience: Owns a small marketing company, River Marketing, with his wife. Previously worked as a server at Red Robin and a banker for U.S. Bank.
Family: Married to Nichole Kerns. Has two children.
Campaign finance: Has raised nearly $41,000 as of Sept. 9, 2022. Notable donors include Avista, numerous builders and political action groups that represent developers, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ congressional campaign fund, Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell, Spokane Valley City Council members Rod Higgins and Arne Woodard, the Washington Association of Realtors, 4th Legislative District Sen. Mike Padden, 4th Legislative District representatives Rob Chase and Bob McCaslin and Spokane County Republican Party Chairman Brian Steele.
Ted Cummings
- Party:
- Democrat
- Age:
- 63
- City:
- Chattaroy, Washington
Education: Graduated from Gonzaga Preparatory School in 1979. Earned an associate degree from Spokane Community College in 1997.
Work experience: Worked at Kaiser Aluminum’s Mead smelter from 1988 until a strike and lockout in 1998. Worked as a supervisor for Alcoa Aluminum in New York from 1998 to 2004. Returned to Kaiser in 2004 at the company’s Trentwood plant. Has served as a vice president for the Washington State Labor Council since 2018.
Political experience: Ran for U.S. Senate in 2016. Ran for state representative in the 4th Legislative District against Matt Shea in 2018. Ran for Spokane County commissioner against Josh Kerns in 2020. Ran for state House Position 1 in the 4th Legislative District in 2022.
Family: Married to Denise Cummings. Has two adult sons and one granddaughter.
Campaign contributions: Opted for mini-filer path, meaning he does not need to report donations or expenditures as long as totals remain below $7,000.
Complete Coverage
Spokane County commissioners Kuney, Kerns handily win re-election
The incumbent Republicans on the Spokane County Board of Commissioners cruised to victory on Tuesday.
Spokane County Commissioner candidates Josh Kerns, Ted Cummings debate extremism, union negotiations
Spokane County Commissioner Candidates Josh Kerns, Ted Cummings clashed over union negotiations and whether Kerns should have called on Rep. Matt Shea to resign.
County Commissioner candidates Josh Kerns, Ted Cummings agree community needs help getting through COVID-19, differ on criminal justice
Spokane County Commissioner candidates Josh Kerns and Ted Cummings disagree on criminal justice issues and how the county should interact with unions, but have similar positions on at least one front: Both say the county should be willing to use county funds to assist people in need after federal money runs out.