Former judge and town council member competing for open House seat in 7th District

Voters in northeastern Washington can choose a Springdale town council member or a former judge to fill the seat of a retiring state representative.

Republican Hunter Abell and Democrat Paul “Rocky” Dean are competing for House position 2 in Washington’s 7th Legislative District to replace longtime state Rep. Joel Kretz. The mostly rural district, which includes Pend Oreille, Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Douglas counties and part of Grant County, has three Republican legislators.

In the primary earlier this month, Abell took the most votes with 35.6% . Dean advanced to the November election by coming in second with 22.1% of the votes.

With the 7th District strongly leaning Republican, Dean acknowledges he has some work to do.

“Do I feel it’s an uphill battle? Almost definitely,” Dean said. “Most of these districts are prominently red, and to get them purple so we can come to agreements and start fixing issues, we need to flip back over to blue instead of blaming each other for the problems and issues. That’s going to be the tricky part of the uphill battle. The rest of it will just fall into place by staying out there, staying on message, and being positive with the voters and being transparent.”

Dean’s strategy for the upcoming election is to branch out and reach more voters.

“I’m going to double down on the way I got to where I am right now, and that’s going to be by continuing to be out in the district, talking to the constituents and reaching people who primarily have been unreachable.”

Despite the success of Republicans in the district, Abell said he will continue to campaign hard.

“I’m taking nothing for granted, I’m running hard for the November election,” Abell said. “I plan on building on those results to reach people that I haven’t before … There are some parts of the district that I am not very well known in yet.”

Abell plans to keep his campaign strategy similar to what it has been, saying, “It’s going to be more of the same, with even more of the message.”

On firearm rights

Both candidates say they support gun rights, but their positions differ.

Abell’s focus is to expand and protect the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

There is “a real lackadaisical attitude by the majority party in Olympia toward firearm rights,” Abell said. Washington banned the sale and manufacture of military-style assault rifles in 2023.

“(Gun rights) are an important part of our 7th district culture,” Abell said. “Olympia is all too willing to take aim at our Second Amendment rights”

If elected, Abell said he will oppose what he considers unnecessary and burdensome gun restrictions in Olympia.

“There are a wide variety of bad bills that the other side proposes in Olympia,” Abell said. “I will be a strong advocate against them.”

Dean said he supports gun rights, but he doesn’t think rights are being threatened or taken away.

“I don’t think they’re being encroached on by any means,” Dean said. “So I’m pro-gun. I have guns, and there’s no one that is coming to take your guns away,” referencing fears of Second Amendment rights being encroached upon.

Washington lawmakers recently passed a background check rule requiring those who purchase guns to wait 10 days.

“A lot of people are upset because now they have to wait 10 days before they can get approved for a gun,” Dean said. “And you know what? I don’t see a problem with that. If you do your due diligence, and you know you’re going to go hunting in a month, you’re going to need a gun, plan accordingly.

“It’s just that (legislators) want responsible gun owners to have more comprehensive gun safety laws. Nobody likes seeing our children injured or hurt, let alone anybody due to gun violence. Right now in our country, it seems that children are killed more by the hand of a gun than anything else.”

On public safety

Both candidates acknowledge fentanyl as the No. 1 public safety issue within their district.

“The fentanyl issue seems like it’s just running rampant right now,” Dean said. “We need to figure out a way that we can curve this issue down. I know everybody says to close down the borders, but I don’t think that is what will solve it. I think everybody needs to leave the fentanyl issues up to the professionals at the higher level, because that’s where I can put my input.”

Abell previously worked as a judge for the Ferry County District Court. He points to his experience giving him an advantage at understanding public safety issues well.

“My background as a prosecutor and as a District Court judge gives me unique insight into the criminal justice issues that we face here in our state and the fentanyl-driven drug violence that we are struggling with,” Abell said. “I think the background is very helpful, that I’ve seen the nuts and bolts of the issue”

Abell plans to combat the fentanyl issue by addressing multiple sides of the issue, particularly on law enforcement and drug treatment.

He wants the state to help police departments recruit and retain officers. He also supports drug court programs.

“We’ve got ongoing indications of fentanyl-driven violence and increased crime, both throughout the state and here in the 7th district,” Abell said. “It’s an important issue because it’s affecting the lives of everyone in the district. It has a body count, and it is not a partisan issue.”

Dean said education is important to resolve the fentanyl crisis.

“I think we do need more treatment centers, but I think we need more and better education of what drugs, and especially the fentanyl, does to our not just our young people – but it’s attacking everybody,” Dean said.

On rural living

Dean said he would work in a bipartisan fashion to help problems facing the community.

“You have to address them one at a time,” Dean said. “I don’t care how good of a multitasker you are, you know, not all the problems can be fixed by one person, and especially not by one party.”

Abell said he would work to reduce regulations that are burdensome to small businesses.

“There are hurdles to allowing licensure transfer here in Washington that make it difficult for professionals to be able to move from one state to another,” Abell said. “And we want more professionals here in Washington.”

Dean also hopes to help local businesses.

“I’m all about helping small businesses as much as we can, so we’re not stepping on everybody’s toes, but everybody just wants to have a better way of life,” Dean said. “And I think the more that you can get a small community to thrive, the quality of life is going to be good for that community.”

Dean said he wants to help communities receive grants to help pay for infrastructure repairs and replacement.

“The small rural areas, their infrastructures are having a lot of issues,” Dean said. “They don’t have the funds available that they need.”

Dean mentioned how burdensome grant writing is, saying that “it takes anywhere from seven to nine months.”

If these issues are resolved, Dean hopes that more people will consider the 7th district as a place to settle down.

“Hopefully, we can start drawing more people into our communities.”

Abell said that northeastern Washington does not have enough police officers and sheriff’s deputies.

“There is general concern about the lack of law enforcement out here in the 7th,” Abell said. “The 7th is particularly acute, because we are so rural, it is a challenge to get younger individuals to raise a family here, and it is the same with law enforcement officials.”

Abell also said the state should make it easier to harvest timber on private land.

“Timber is a significant issue because of how important it is in the economic system out here,” Abell said.

“It has become burdensome for people to secure the right to harvest timber from the DNR,” referencing the Department of Natural Resources.