Whitman County Races Set

Last week was Filing Week for Whitman County political candidates. It's shaping up to be an interesting election season. According to Saturday's edition of the Lewiston Tribune:

Another quintet is running for the Whitman County Commission District 3 seat being vacated by Republican Les Wigen. Republicans James R. White, Jannine Henly Larkin, Michael Largent and Harmon Smith will run for their party's nomination. Nathan Weller is the only Democrat to sign up for the commission seat.

The only other race shaping up in Whitman County is between incumbent Republican Auditor Eunice Coker and Democrat challenger Nathan Horter.

You may remember that only Harmon Smith and Michael Largent received the Whitman County Republican Party's nomination for commissioner at a convention held on April 15. Jim White and Jeannine Larkin are running due to a Washington law that allows anyone to file for office using any party affiliation they choose. Both the GOP and Washington Democrats are suing to overturn this law. Obviously White and Larkin, both worthy candidates, will have a much harder row to hoe without the official support of their party. The winner of the September 19 primary will face Democrat Nathan Weller, a 24-year old political novice who works as an Assembler at Schweitzer Engineering Labs in Pullman.

Eunice Coker's opponent is also a young Democrat named Nathan, Nathan Horter, who until recently also worked in Manufacturing at SEL.

I'm hoping to get interviews with all the candidates. Of course, I have my own opinions and thoughts, but I will not be making any endorsements until after the primary, due to my official position within the Whitman County Republican Party.