Controversy, surprise endorsement shakes up race to replace state Sen. Mike Padden

Candidates, cash and controversy are abundant in the race for a state Senate seat in eastern Spokane County.

Four Republicans and two Democrats have thrown their hat in the ring to replace outgoing state Sen. Mike Padden, who’s held the lone state Senate seat in the 4th Legislative District since 2011. Padden opted to retire after spending 28 years in the Washington State Legislature.

The district stretches from Spokane Valley in the south, Elk to the north and from the Idaho state line to Newport Highway. It has only elected Republicans since 1994.

The candidates vary in age and political experience, with Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley, state Rep. Leonard Christian, recently elected Spokane Valley City Councilman Al Merkel and businessman Mike Kelly rounding out the slate of conservative candidates.

Miguel Valencia, a law student and Army veteran, and Paige Scott, a former National Guard member, are the two Democrats in the race.

Kelly holds the financial advantage with more than $75,000 in campaign contributions, which includes nearly $27,500 of his own cash, according to the Public Disclosure Commission. He’s followed by Christian with just more than $25,000, Haley with around $18,700 and Valencia with more than $12,800. Merkel and Scott bring up the rear with roughly $1,100 and no reported donations, respectively.

The controversies

Padden, the outgoing senator who’s represented the district for a total of 28 years in the Washington State Legislature, has endorsed Kelly over fellow legislator Christian and his longtime associate Haley.

The move came as a surprise to many longtime Valley conservatives.

“I think Padden must have really hated Suzanne and I to go out and find somebody from outside the area to run,” Christian said, referencing his fellow district representative, Suzanne Schmidt. “No context or history in the area. His support just makes no sense.”

Kelly moved to the Valley in 2020 from Portland to be closer to his grandchildren, he said. But his opponents and detractors tout that as proof Kelly is a newcomer who may not understand the district and the issues important to its constituents.

“I’ve learned most of the important issues needed through my involvement with the county over the last five years or through my campaign and just reaching out and talking to a ton of people, mostly at the doorstep,” Kelly said.

They also point to Kelly’s stint in federal prison in the late ’80s and early ’90s for a drug trafficking charge as a knock against him, and a further confusing element of Padden’s choice, a former judge who maintained a tough-on-drugs approach for much of his time in the legislature.

Kelly has been relatively transparent about his run-in with the criminal justice system in interviews, at campaign events and on his campaign website, but only in generalities.

“Although working in the world of financial services, the path of least resistance and greatest allure proved to be the world of illicit drugs,” his campaign website says. “Consequently, although never partaking himself, Mike chose to involve himself in the financing of transactions involving controlled substances.”

Court records show Kelly was initially charged and pleaded guilty to two felonies: possession and intent to distribute cocaine, and another for carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime, both stemming from an evening in June 1989 when he and an associate purchased a kilogram of cocaine from an undercover Portland Police Bureau officer for $75,000.

In an interview with The Spokesman-Review, he said the ’80s were “the time of Scarface and Miami Vice,” and the drug culture was “in your face.” He struggled as a young stockbroker and financial adviser, which led him to turn to crime, he said.

“While I didn’t participate, I did have the opportunity to get involved financially and finance some higher-level transactions,” Kelly said. “So that kind of went on for a period of time, until eventually I got arrested.”

Federal law enforcement accused Kelly of possessing an AK-47 semiautomatic rifle, a 12 -gauge shotgun, a semiautomatic .380 -caliber pistol and two 9 mm submachine pistols at the time of his arrest, as well as numerous scales. He pleaded guilty to both charges and was sentenced to 10 years for the drug charge and five years for the firearm charge, to be served concurrently.

While spending the first few years of his incarceration studying law “out of curiosity, but also to help other people,” Kelly said he caught an error in how his own case was processed that led the judge to enact a reduced sentence in 1994.

The firearm charges appear to have been dropped when the judge amended the sentence for the drug charge to seven years and three months, according to court records.

Kelly views the ordeal as a story of redemption that taught him the importance of humility and strengthened his faith while also helping shape his stance on criminal justice.

“It was 35 years ago, right?” Kelly said. “So for most people, it’s not relevant. Yes, I made a mistake, I took accountability, but through that experience, I’ve learned some valuable lessons. I’ve matured immensely.”

Padden said his endorsement of Kelly doesn’t come as a knock on other candidates; he believes most conservatives in the race would do a good job in the role. He thinks Merkel would need to change his approach to build the relationships in the 49-member Senate to pass effective legislation, especially in a Democrat-heavy legislature.

He appreciates Kelly’s perspective on his legal troubles and views it as someone overcoming a mistake. The Spokane County GOP said as much in their interview with Kelly, in which they announced their endorsement of him.

“I endorsed Mike Kelly right from the get-go,” Padden said. “I think he’s got the qualities, the personality, the life experiences, some setbacks and overcoming those and a lot of varied business activities. And real knowledge of the issues to be an effective senator.”

Haley was one of those surprised by the endorsement, due in part to what she said was a longstanding promise she received from Padden that he would endorse her when he stepped down.

She said she could not speak to how the endorsement came to be, and that all she was told regarding the lack of endorsement is that she “wouldn’t fit in with the male majority of the Senate.”

“Honestly, up until probably he told me about Mike Kelly, I expected him to endorse me, too,” Haley said. “Because that’s what he’s always told me.”

Kelly is not the only candidate with an air of controversy around them or some of their comments.

An independent investigation launched by the city of Spokane Valley after an employee lodged an official complaint found Merkel perpetuated a pattern of disrespectful behavior against city staff in his first few months in office.

In one instance, Merkel allegedly cornered Haley after a council meeting, preventing her from leaving the chambers as he yelled at her and invaded her personal space, according to the investigation’s findings. Two city staffers who witnessed the interaction intervened and escorted Haley away from the building. Haley’s husband or staff members now walk her to her car after each Tuesday meeting, she said.

Merkel has also been accused of a problematic work history, by a private investigator during a council meeting, and in an ongoing lawsuit in Spokane County that alleges he fostered a hostile work environment.

He’s maintained that the investigations by the city and private investigators and the conflict in which he’s been engaged at City Hall are political attacks by those wishing to silence him.

“It’s clear that I am tenacious; I am ready to keep on going after the policies that matter for you, no matter what attacks might come,” Merkel said when asked how he might square that baggage with voters. “I’ve never stopped fighting for the things that matter for this city, no matter what they’ve thrown at me, and I’ll be that way in Olympia, too.”

Haley and Merkel, now opponents in the election, have continued to have contentious exchanges during the city council meetings since announcing their bids for office.

In a May meeting, Merkel made a point of mentioning Haley’s claim that two children who attended the day care she runs have died after coming in contact with unsecured opiates, something she’s repeated in interviews and campaign events when calling for increased penalties for drug possession and use.

Merkel questioned the legitimacy of the claim in interviews and brought it up at the meeting in what appeared to be an attempt to increase scrutiny for Haley.

A review of past releases from the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office shows at least one toddler who died after coming into contact with an opioid.

A 1-year-old from Airway Heights died in June 2023 of “accidental smothering in the setting of the toxic effects of buprenorphine,” the release states. The drug is prescribed as a replacement to assist in the treatment of opioid dependence and addiction, and includes drowsiness and shallow breathing as possible symptoms.

Haley said she heard of the deaths from the families of the dead toddlers, and that neither of the parties responsible for the two children ingesting opioids faced criminal charges, which has led to her calls for cracking down on possession and negligence.

“I feel like there needs to be more penalties for things like that,” Haley said. “There needs to be some repercussions.”

She said Merkel’s insinuation Haley would lie about the death of children as part of her campaign was disgusting and hurtful.

“It’s a horrible, horrible thing to say,” Haley said.

On public safety

Haley, Merkel and Christian all identified public safety as their top priority.

Merkel said redirecting marijuana taxes back to the counties and cities where they were collected would be one of his first legislation pushes if elected. He said redirecting those funds would allow jurisdictions to hire more police officers, enhance court and jail facilities and hire more prosecutors and public defenders .

Haley has nearly identical thoughts on bringing marijuana tax proceeds back to the local level to fund the justice system and would like to see increased penalties for drug offenses inspired in part by the aforementioned toddler overdoses she said killed two of her day care attendees.

“My business is downtown, and up and down the street, there’s people smoking fentanyl all the time on the sidewalk,” Haley said. “I think to some extent, because no one does anything, no one even talks to them about it, I think that it’s normalizing it.”

Christian touted his sponsorship of a number of bills aimed at increasing penalties for criminal offenses and reinstituting protections and policing practices for law enforcement officers as evidence of his commitment to public safety. He was glad to see a number of Washington residents put their support behind an initiative adopted by the Legislature this year that removed restrictions on police pursuits.

Christian rebuked the Democratic majority’s approach to crime and the justice system, saying “they don’t want people who are committing crime to pay any penalty.” He said the costs of crime are inevitably passed on to residents and taxpayers, whether it be to fund increased policing or the costs of theft reflected in pricing at the grocery store.

“Sometimes people need to go to jail to get straightened out and become good model citizens,” Christian said. “Sometimes you have to pay somewhat of a penalty for that.”

Kelly said contrary to what people may believe, his brush with the law taught him the importance of accountability, and that he is committed to ensuring the district remains a safe place to raise a family.

“I learned accountability, which is a big part, I think, of any of the solutions that we need to deal with crime today,” Kelly said. “There has to be an accountability component.”

Valencia said he would advocate for state funding for co-response programs that pair mental health and addiction specialists with first responders. He said public safety can mean more than just policing a community, but he understands policing is an important element .

“It’s just that the system that we’ve created for the police essentially has no accountability, and I don’t think they’re receiving the proper training,” Valencia said. “So there needs to be more accountability, there needs to be better training.”

He also added to his image of public safety access to affordable or free health care in the state and increasing housing supply to provide shelter to the homeless .

Scott said people are “being reckless with the laws,” evidenced by the speeding and drug use she sees. She said she would like to see officers have more time to enforce traffic and possession crimes, but she doesn’t think there should be a state funding mechanism to hire more officers.

”They’re so busy chasing crime around that they can’t take the time to drive the streets and just monitor,” Scott said.