Suess drops out as filing week opens

Citing personal reasons, Kirk Suess of Steptoe announced Tuesday he had decided not to run for Whitman County Commissioner in District 1.

Suess was the first candidate to declare a campaign for the seat when he made a formal announcement of his challenge to incumbent Greg Partch of Garfield last December.

Suess this week threw his support behind Lamont farmer Art Swannack, who was the first candidate to officially file for office with the county elections department when the season opened Monday.

Candidate filing runs through tomorrow, Friday, for positions countywide.

“He thinks before he speaks, and he doesn’t waste words,” Suess said in endorsing Swannack. “He’s the type of guy that looks you in the eye when he’s speaking to you. He’s going to go get smart on things.”

Partch announced his campaign for a fourth term in office at the Whitman County Republican Party convention in March.

Rosalia Fire Chief Bill Tensfeld filed his bid for the seat with the auditor’s office Tuesday morning.

Suess led the field in campaign contributions with a war chest of $13,609.43, according to filings with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission. He had spent $3,134.36 on the campaign.

He will announce soon what he intends to do with donations to his campaign. Suess said he will likely pay back donors who want refunds and donate the rest to a non-profit organization.

Tensfeld was second in the fund race as of Tuesday, having raised $6,925.01 and spent $5,719.09. Swannack’s treasury was at $5,761.97 with $1,065.58 spent. Partch had not yet reported any campaign donations.

All are Republicans.

A three-candidate field for the District 1 seat, which covers north Whitman County, would be winnowed to two in the Aug. 7 primary.

Ewartsville farmer Dean Kinzer, a Republican filed for District 2 commissioner Wednesday morning.

Incumbent Pat O’Neill, a Democrat from Johnson, plans to run for a second term but had not filed as of press time.

Through Tuesday, O’Neill had spent $28 of his $1,128 campaign fund. Kinzer did not report any campaign fund.

Along with the county commission seats, the position of Superior Court Judge and a Port of Whitman County Commissioner position are up for election.

Judge David Frazier filed for re-election for a fourth term on the Superior Court bench Monday morning.

Ten city council seats are up for election, including three in Palouse.

St. John School District has three of the 12 school board seats that will be on the ballot.

Several commission posts for fire, cemetery, parks and recreation districts are up, as well as two commission posts on the Steptoe Sewer District and a hospital commissioner seat on the Garfield Hospital District.

All three positions representing the 9th Legislative District in the state Legislature will also be on the ballot.

Incumbent Rep. Joe Schmick of Colfax and Sen. Mark Schoesler of Ritzville had filed their official candidacies as of Tuesday. Rep. Susan Fagan had not.

Local candidates can file through 5 p.m. Friday at the county elections office on Main. Candidates for the state office must file with the state Secretary of State’s office.