Spokane School Board Seat 5
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Wiser | 28,043 | 57.05% |
| Ericka Lalka | 17,173 | 34.94% |
| David Voltz | 3,936 | 8.01% |
* 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
Mike Wiser
- Age:
- 52
- City:
- Spokane, Washington
Neighborhood: Comstock
Education: Graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1990. Graduated from the University of Washington in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. Graduated from Northwestern University in 2000 with a dual master’s in business administration and engineering management.
Work experience: Worked in health care administration at CHAS Health for over 10 years. Has worked as a consultant at Community Link Consulting since January 2023.
Political experience: Appointed as a Spokane Public Schools board member in March 2017. Elected as Spokane Public Schools board member in November 2017.
Family: Married to Deborah Wiser. Has two children, one graduated from Spokane Public Schools and one currently attends a school in the district.
Campaign finance: Has raised about $3,500 Oct. 4, including a $1,000 transfer from a previous campaign and $1,200 from the statewide teacher’s union’s political action committee, Washington Education Association Political Action Committee.
Ericka Lalka
- Age:
- 52
- City:
- Spokane, Washington
Neighborhood: Cannon Hill
Education: Graduated from Kamiakin High School in Kennewick in 1990. Graduated from Columbia Basin College in 2002 with an associate degree.
Work experience: Worked in real estate for over 20 years. Opened a Keller Williams branch in Kennewick in 2017. Currently is the operating principal of Columbia Basin Keller Williams and team leader of Keller Williams Spokane since 2022.
Political experience: Elected precinct committee officer for Benton County GOP since 1998. Appointed precinct committee officer for Spokane County GOP in 2022. State committeewoman for the Republican Party in 2022.
Family: Married to Damien Lalka with four children, three adults and one currently attending a school in the district.
Campaign finance: Has raised $5,073 as of Oct. 4. She also has personally loaned her campaign an additional $9,500. Contributors include Jessica Yaeger, a candidate for Spokane Valley City Council and the chair of the Moms for Liberty chapter in Spokane County; and Gretchen McDevitt, former Spokane County Republican Party board member.
David Voltz
Neighborhood: Indian Trails
Education: Says he attended Spokane Falls Community College, Eastern Washington University and other colleges, but did not provide degrees or dates of graduation.
Work experience: Says he worked at a TV station from 1995 to 2001 and then was a shuttle van driver and currently drives for Uber.
Political experience: Ran for Washington governor in 2020 as part of the Cascadia Labour Party. Elected a Democratic Precinct Committee officer in 2010 and Republican Precinct Committee officer in 2016.
Family: Not married and has no children.
Political donations: Has raised $0 as of June 29, 2023.
Complete Coverage
Spokane School Board incumbent supports levy and bond; opponent is undecided
In the only seat up for grabs this year, Spokane Public Schools board challenger said if elected, she could stretch the taxpayer dollar further for improved test scores, incumbent argues spending fuels student success.
School board races in Spokane, West Valley show victors; Cheney and Deer Park unclear
Spokane School Board President Mike Wiser easily advanced to the November election in Tuesday’s primary and will face Realtor Ericka Lalka.
Two newcomers challenge incumbent Wiser for a seat on Spokane Public Schools board
Voters have their pick among three candidates in this year’s primary election for the Spokane Public Schools seat occupied by Mike Wiser: the incumbent or one of two newcomers, Ericka Lalka and David Voltz.