Age, Experience Key In District 3 Races House Candidates Mostly Young, Rookies
All four of the 3rd District House candidates are political rookies. Three are under age 30.
The district’s two House seats opened this year when two Democrats - Dennis Dellwo and Lisa Brown - went looking for new jobs.
The most familiar face among the aspiring legislators belongs to Alex Wood, a veteran Spokane radio reporter and talk-show host.
Wood, 50, is running for House seat Position 1. He casts himself as a diplomatic Democrat along the lines of his role model Tom Foley - someone willing to compromise to get things done.
His opponent is Republican Brendon Hill, a 28-year-old wine steward at Patsy Clark’s restaurant. Hill touts the fact he’s a Spokane native ready to rein in wasteful government spending.
Wood questions whether Hill is ready for the job. At a recent debate, Wood asked Hill to list the three reasons he’s qualified to go to Olympia.
Hill responded that he’s spent his life in Spokane, he’s a father and a husband, and he has ideas on how to improve public education.
“Under those criterion, just about anybody’s qualified,” Wood later surmised. “Live a life for a while. Work some jobs. I just wonder why he’s trying this run for the Statehouse.”
Hill has a similar assessment of Wood: “I’ve been on welfare as a kid. I’ve served the community. I’m married with two kids. Alex has none of that stuff.”
Wood questions whether the district wants someone as socially conservative as Hill.
For example, Wood supports a woman’s right to get an abortion. Hill wants abortions outlawed - including cases resulting from rape and incest - except when the mother’s life is in danger.
“I’d rather see life win over death anytime,” Hill says, but notes he doesn’t believe it’s a vital 3rd District issue.
Hill claims he is in better touch with the district than Wood. He casts Wood as a big-spending liberal who walks the fence on issues, refusing to commit to specifics.
Wood is considered the favorite in the race after getting 63 percent of the vote in the Sept. 17 primary election.
The other 3rd District House race pits two men born in the 1970s, Democrat Jeff Gombosky and Republican Ken Whitehall.
Gombosky, 25, stunned Spokane Democrats by beating his two older, more-experienced primary opponents with a relentless doorbelling strategy last month.
Now Gombosky claims an experience advantage over Whitehall, a shift manager for a Taco Bell in the Spokane Valley.
Gombosky says his community work, including heading the Institute for Neighborhood Leadership, has allowed him to work with most 3rd District neighborhoods.
He says he’s committed to expanding economic and higher-educational opportunities for 3rd District families.
Whitehall, 24, says he’s got the experience edge over Gombosky, because he grew up poor and has dealt with a great personal tragedy.
Whitehall entered politics this year crusading to make sure what happened to him doesn’t happen to anyone else.
His fiancee, Felicia Reese, was murdered in late 1994 in Spokane.
Whitehall wants to tighten the juvenile justice system to keep dangerous repeat offenders - like the two teenagers associated with her murder - off the streets.
“I’ve seen the ugly side of crime,” Whitehall says. “When I speak about it, it’s not to win votes. It’s from the heart.”
Whitehall - who like Gombosky collected about a third of the votes during the primary election - pledges to cut wasteful spending on public schools by cutting back on Olympia bureaucracy.
But he also wants to pay teachers more money.
“Some have called me a liberal Republican,” says Whitehall, noting he and Gombosky agree on most issues.
, DataTimes MEMO: See individual profiles by name of candidate