Republican challenger from Spokane says Washington auditor’s office should help private sector more

The elected Washington state auditor oversees an office of 480 employees tasked to track and inspect how local governments and agencies of all sizes use public funds.

A Spokane Valley man thinks his 30-plus years of private sector experience make him fit to oversee that office. He’s trying to unseat a two-term Democratic incumbent and steer the state agency in a direction that would help businesses.

In the August primary election, Republican challenger Matt Hawkins picked up 41% of the vote, trailing incumbent Pat McCarthy, who pulled in 59% of the vote. The pair will compete on the November ballot in a long list of nine executive state offices up for grabs this year.

Since 2018, Hawkins has served as an elected state committeeman for the Spokane County Republican Party. He currently works as a real estate broker in Eastern Washington and said he has previous experience in investment banking and private business ownership.

“Matt will be able to take his personal knowledge of how to manage a business effectively – and apply it to the auditor position to drive improvements by cutting wasteful spending by Washington State government agencies while saving taxpayers millions of dollars,” reads a statement on his campaign website.

First elected as state auditor in 2016, McCarthy previously served two terms as the elected auditor of Pierce County before serving two more terms as the elected executive of the same county.

McCarthy said she is running for another four-year term to continue what she calls noble work to monitor governments around the state, noting that the downsize and closure of many local newspapers means there are less people holding power to account. She said she is concerned about the future of artificial intelligence and its implications on the future of state affairs.

“Washington has a great legacy of keeping government accountable,” McCarthy said in a phone interview. “Mainly fiscally accountable. So we do financial audits. We do accountability audits, which is to make sure that government is following the Open Public Meetings act, and looking at their minutes, and making sure that they follow all the rules and laws and procedures.”

The auditor added that her office has been dedicating a lot of time to cybersecurity around the state along with a new audit created under her leadership that investigates police use of deadly force.

“I am currently the president-elect for the National Association of State Auditors,” McCarthy said. “… I have been honored to be in this position and I am looking forward to seeing if the voters will give me that honor again, one more time.”

When asked what sets her apart from her opponent in the race, McCarthy said her opponent would need to spend a lot of time learning how the office functions, adding that she has “no agenda” other than ensuring Washington residents can have trust in their government.

“I think it’s important to note that it’s an office where you need to manage a lot of people,” McCarthy said. “I think I have the skills and ability. I’ve proven that I know how to run an agency like ours.”

Hawkins said he is running because he’s heard a lot of public frustration across the state over the state of public schools along with private sector regulations he believes are too strict and harming sectors such as construction and agriculture.

“If we’re going to bring down the cost of housing, you know, the cost of new construction, if we’re going to try to bring down the cost of our food, we’ve got to figure out what regulations are impacting those two sectors. We’ve got to get on that quickly.”

The Spokane Valley resident also said he’s been frustrated with the Democratic-led state government and general push toward bigger government in the country the past few years.

“I’m tired of this pushing around we get just as normal citizens,” Hawkins said.

When asked what sets him apart from his opponent in the race, Hawkins said he brings decades of experience working in the private sector, while McCarthy has spent most of her career in the public sector.

“I come to the table with an unbiased approach to allow myself to be approachable by all people,” Hawkins said. “I’m willing to make sure that this is not about party dynamics.”

Ballots for the general election will be mailed Oct. 18 and voters have until Nov. 5 to return them via mail or county drop box.