Spokane Valley Fire Commission Position 5
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Rick Freier | 11,479 | 54.96% |
| George Orr | 4,815 | 23.05% |
| Diana Wilhite | 4,593 | 21.99% |
* 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
Rick Freier
- Age:
- 53
- City:
- Spokane Valley, Washington
Education: Graduated from Othello High School in 1989. Earned a criminal justice degree from Spokane Community College in 2015.
Political experience: None.
Work experience: Served in the Marine Corps, retired as a first sergeant. Spent 24 years as a firefighter and fire investigator with the Spokane Valley Fire Department.
Family: Married to Kristin Freier. Has three daughters.
Fundraising: Freier has opted for the Public Disclosure Commission’s “mini reporting” option. As long as he raises less than $7,000, he doesn’t have to disclose individual donors or donation amounts. In an interview, Freier shared that the Spokane Valley firefighters’ union has donated to his campaign.
George Orr
- Age:
- 82
Education: Graduated from St. Anthony High School in Long Beach, California in 1960.
Political experience: Served on the Central Valley school board from 1984 to 1990. Was a Democratic state representative for Spokane Valley from 1991 to 1995. Unsuccessfully ran for state Senate in 1996 and the Spokane County Commission in 2004. Has served on the Washington State Gambling Commission and state Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Work experience: Served in the Navy as a machinist’s mate in the South China Sea in the 1960s. Worked as an apprentice lineman, meter reader and line digger for Avista. Spent more than 30 years as a firefighter with the Spokane Valley Fire Department.
Family: Married to Judy Orr. Has two daughters.
Fundraising: Has raised more than $4,300 as of Sept. 26. Notable donors include the Spokane Valley firefighters’ union, the Democratic Party’s fundraising arm in the 4th Legislative District and Spokane Valley City Councilman Tim Hattenburg.
Diana Wilhite
- Age:
- 79
- City:
- Spokane Valley, WA
Education: Graduated from Cambridge (Idaho) High School in 1963. Earned a bachelor’s in history from the University of Maryland in 1969.
Political experience: Elected to the inaugural Spokane Valley City Council in 2003. Served until 2009, including a two-year stint as mayor from 2005 to 2007. Ran unsuccessfully for state representative as a Republican twice – against Matt Shea in 2008 and against Bob McCaslin Jr. in 2014. Former chairwoman of the Spokane County Republican Party.
Work experience: Worked as a teacher in Washington, Arizona and Illinois. Owned a company with her husband called Safeguard Business Systems that printed specialty checks, mainly for small businesses, that sold in 2011.
Family: Married to Rick Wilhite. Has one daughter and two granddaughters.
Fundraising: Has raised $1,890 as of June 27.