Democrat makes second attempt to unseat Rep. Jenny Graham

Micheala Kelso is making another attempt to unseat Republican state Rep. Jenny Graham to represent areas west and north of central Spokane.

Kelso, a 54-year-old Democrat retired from the U.S. Army, moved to Spokane in 2018, nine years after visiting the city in 2009 with her husband. Shortly after her retirement and moving, she attended and graduated from Spokane Community College.

She faces a difficult challenge, however. The 6th Legislative District leans heavily Republican, and Graham won more than 60% of the vote in the primary. Graham and Kelso advanced to the November election because there were only two candidates. Kelso lost a race against Graham for the same seat two years ago.

Graham, 59, first won a seat in the state House in 2018. She declined to be interviewed for this story.

As a member of the Legislature, Graham has opposed restrictions on guns, including the state ban on the manufacture and sale of military-style assault rifles. She also opposed the Climate Commitment Act, a carbon trading system that could be repealed by voters in November through Initiative 2117. She opposed many police reform proposals in 2021 that Republicans argued would hurt law enforcement’s ability to fight crime.

Kelso said she decided to run for the Legislature because when Donald Trump was elected as president in 2016, her daughter called her crying at the thought of him running the country.

After that phone call, she decided to get involved with politics and run for office when she got out of the army.

“I was always interested in politics,” Kelso said. “I have very strong opinions on things, mostly that we need to help people, not that we need to punish them for things.”

Kelso said her opponent does not stand for what is important to her.

“Graham has proposed 22 bills or resolutions, and out of those 22 bills or resolutions, only three became law in six years,” Kelso said. “I’m assuming it’s because she is not part of the majority … so our district right now is not being represented by anybody.”

Kelso said she wants the opportunity to take care of the Spokane community and follow through with her goal to listen and help people.

If elected into the position, Kelso wants to be a representative for the district and work toward helping community members with housing costs.

“We need to help with affordable housing, and one of the biggest things is helping people who have been affected by the wildfires,” she said. “I know that no Democrat would deny the passing of a bill to support victims of wildfires.”

Kelso said she supports the right for people to own guns, noting that she used guns as a member of the military. But she said she supports some restrictions to promote safety.