Cheney School Board District 5
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Mitch Swenson | 3,232 | 50.94% |
| Bill Lathrop | 1,581 | 24.92% |
| Ivan Khala | 1,532 | 24.14% |
* 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.
About the Race
The Candidates
Mitch Swenson
- Age:
- 64
Education: Graduated from Cheney High School in 1978. Graduated from Eastern Washington University in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in finance.
Work experience: Commercial real estate broker with NAI Black for over 40 years.
Political experience: Elected Cheney Public Schools board member in 2015 and re-elected in 2019.
Family: Married to Kris Swenson. Has eight children. Five of his kids graduated from schools in the district.
Bill Lathrop
- Age:
- 44
- City:
- Cheney, Washington
Education: Graduated from Rosalia High School in 1998. Received electric lineworker certificate from Boise State University in 1999.
Work experience: Works as a lineman of 17 years for the city of Cheney. Volunteers as a wrestling coach at Cheney Wrestling Association for over a year. Coaches youth wrestling at the Cheney wrestling club for six years.
Political experience: On the Cheney Public Schools long-range facility advisory committee for about six months. Lobbied at the state Legislature with the Public Employees Retirement System for one legislative session.
Family: Married to Jennifer Lathrop. Has two kids who attend schools in the district.
Political experience: On the Cheney Public Schools long-range facility advisory committee for about six months. Lobbied at the state Legislature with the Public Employees Retirement System for one legislative session.
Ivan Khala
Education: Graduated from the Adult Education Center in 2000 after dropping out of North Central High School in 1999. Graduated from the Universal Technical Institute in Arizona.
Work experience: Coached students in a flight school in Arizona for three years. Worked for the farm Boulder Creek in truck operations for the past four years. Worked for Transport Connections, a tow company, in Cheney for six years. Supervised maintenance at Greystar apartment complex for four years.
Political experience: None.
Family: Married. Has three kids. Two go to school in the district, one is an adult.
Campaign fundraising: Has raised no money as of July 20, 2023.