Spokane County political parties back candidates, including some surprising choices

Spokane County’s two major political parties have voted to recommend candidates for local office, and while their choices generally fell along predictable lines, there have been some surprising selections and omissions.

The Spokane County GOP has not officially released their endorsements and did not respond to requests for comment. But Tim Archer, candidate for Spokane mayor, is already boasting of the party’s recommendation of him over incumbent Nadine Woodward.

According to Archer, he received the support of 55% of precinct committee officers, elected hyperlocal party functionaries, versus 39% who supported Woodward.

“I think it represents the frustration with Nadine Woodward as far as her conservative base goes,” Archer told The Spokesman-Review in the middle of an overseas vacation. “In the primary, it’s a good, aggressive expression of the county GOP’s values.”

In an email, Woodward noted that she hadn’t asked for the county party’s endorsement during her successful run for mayor in 2019, and said she hadn’t done so this year either.

“I have been consistent on this since my first run in 2019,” Woodward wrote. “I meet with a wide variety of groups to spread my message for re-election, but I did not ask for an endorsement from the GOP because I work for the voters, not a political party.”

The Spokane County Democrats, on the other hand, released their endorsements for local office Thursday, just a day after the party interviewed candidates. Most were expected: former state Department of Commerce Director Lisa Brown for mayor and Councilwoman Betsy Wilkerson for City Council president.

The party endorsed Lindsey Shaw against Councilman Michael Cathcart, one of two conservatives on the council. Two progressive candidates in the same race to represent south Spokane got the nod: Cyndi Donahue and Paul Dillon, in a primary contest that also includes Mike Naccarato and Katey Randall Treloar.

In the race to represent northwest Spokane, the party endorsed Kitty Klitzke but made no decision on Esteban Herevia, another candidate with progressive bona fides in the crowded six-way contest. Party Chair Carmela Conroy, speaking in her personal capacity, told The Spokesman-Review that some members had unanswered questions about accusations Herevia fostered an inappropriate relationship with a former Whitworth University student while he was working at the college.

Conroy said that she had concerns about Herevia buying the underage student alcohol and reportedly violating Whitworth policies. She added that she wanted to hear more from Herevia about the circumstances and whether he had learned from the experience.

“He didn’t raise the issue, and I certainly felt uncomfortable raising the issue with him in front of a big group of people,” she said. “Without having a chance to hear from Esteban on it, the group voted not to take action.”

That’s not the same as voting not to endorse, Conroy noted. Party members voted not to endorse two other candidates that had sought endorsement: northwest Spokane council candidate and former Libertarian candidate for state Legislature Randy McGlenn, as well as Treloar.

“While their presentations were reasonable and they answered questions well, some members of the committee with longer experience with politics in Spokane shared some of the candidate’s political backgrounds,” Conroy said. “That swayed people in the room.”

An endorsement bid from Darren McCrea, a longtime advocate for medical marijuana, also received a vote of no action by the county Democrats, Conroy said. In McCrea’s case, he was unable to attend the party interviews on Wednesday, Conroy said.

Both McCrea and Herevia can ask the party to reconsider, and a no-action vote doesn’t preclude the possibility of a future endorsement, Conroy said. However, that won’t occur until the party’s August meeting, after the primary election is over.