Volz and competition McCray to focus on differing issues if elected State Representative

In a race for a state House seat representing the 6th Legislative District, voters can pick a candidate with more than two decades of experience in government or the choice who says it’s time for change.

Republican state Rep. Mike Volz is running for his fifth term for Position 1 in the district, which includes Airway Heights and much of the West Plains, many areas north of Spokane and portions of the city’s north side, including Indian Trails and Hillyard. Already having laid the groundwork for them, he said winning support for a day care facility and legislation involving a personal property tax exemption would be areas of focus if he wins another term.

He faces Democrat Steven McCray II, who says he’d be a fresh voice for the district. He’s emphasizing a focus on affordable higher education, combating homelessness and addressing water pollution on the West Plains.

Volz has a clear advantage in the race. He won nearly 62% of the vote in the August primary.

Mike Volz

Getting a start in local government as a county accountant in 1999, Republican Mike Volz has held a number of finance-related positions leading up to his election as state representative in 2016.

Currently serving in his fourth term, Volz said he initially took an interest in the position due to a commitment to “quality public education.” With his wife being a middle school teacher and his three children having gone through the public school system, he cited a desire to have an input on the McCleary Decision – which alleged that Washington State failed to provide adequate resources for all children in the state – in particular.

“I was on the K-12 Education Committee and the Appropriations Committee, which was the budget committee that came up with a lot of the work on trying to solve that court case and have some stable funding source for the K-12, regardless of where students live,” Volz said.

In listing what he sees as some of his most memorable accomplishments, Volz brings up securing capital funding for Excelsior Wellness and the Ashley House, which serve adolescents struggling with behavioral issues and adolescents coping with severe injury or illness, respectively.

Though only on the Education Committee for his first two terms, Volz said that his finance background compelled him to continue running.

“I still enjoy it, I still think I can contribute,” he said. “I enjoy the interaction with all sorts of people, and I really like problem solving.”

Currently, Volz serves on the Transportation Committee, saying he switched in order to help secure funding for the North Spokane Corridor.

If re-elected, Volz plans to continue existing work of his, specifically getting a “multiuse day care” facility up and functioning in the Hillyard area – an area he describes as historically underserved.

He added that he has been looking into property tax reform items involving mobile homes and small businesses.

“I might be running some legislation on the personal property tax exemption,” Volz said. “I think we’re going to be working on dropping a bill on that this year, trying to get some relief that really helps small businesses and some other folks that pay these personal property taxes.”

In 2021, Volz sponsored a bill lowering the delinquent tax interest charge from 12% to 9% for properties with four or fewer units on them.

Steven McCray II

Besides believing that “an uncontested candidate is bad for democracy,” Democrat Steven McCray II said he is running for state representative to address PFAS contamination of water, homelessness in Spokane and education.

High levels of PFAS on the West Plains have been linked to firefighting foam used at the Air Force base and Spokane International Airport.

Currently serving as an elected commissioner for Four Lakes Water District 10 north of Cheney, McCray said he has been “very disturbed about the lack of response about the situation around PFAS coming off of the Spokane International Airport and Fairchild.”

“I want to be a voice for the individuals out there whose water has been poisoned,” he said.

PFAS, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are man-made chemicals linked to cancers, heart disease, high cholesterol, thyroid disease, low birth weight and other diseases.

In order to address the issue, McCray said he would focus on getting state funding to allow private well owners across the county, and potentially the state, to test their water. This would be a move to determine the true scope of the problem before looking into mitigation strategies .

McCray also said he believes he would be a better advocate than Volz for the homeless community in the Spokane area due to his near completion of a degree in social work. His approach to lessening the issue would involve restructuring Washington’s laws on home finance and condominiums.

“I do not believe that the traditional, single -family dwelling is going to be sustainable in the long run,” he said. “And so we need to create opportunities for the people to be able to buy into multifamily dwellings, and that would be one of the first places I’m going to work on.”

McCray supports funding education “at all levels, to the fullest extent.” He believes that the state of Washington should fully fund early childhood education, along with apprenticeship programs and “at least” through a bachelor’s program in secondary education.

“Another issue that I want to focus on is getting our fair shake of the state dollar for our education,” McCray said. “And I want to ensure that across all levels of education – pre-K, K through 12 and then for a university-level education – I want to ensure that people are able to go to school and get the full education that they want.”

Being legally blind, McCray is active in disability issues in the community. He is on the legislative subcommittee for the Governor’s Committee on Disability Issues and Employment, is a diversity representative on the Spokane County Democrats Executive Board and is secretary of correspondence for the nonprofit Spokane Council of the Blind.

Washington’s general election will be held on Nov. 5. Ballots must be dropped in an election box no later than 8 p.m. on election day.