First day for filing draws majority of candidates

May 17, 20180

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Whitman County Commissioner Michael Largent, District Three, left, shares a joke with Sandy Jamison, county auditor candidate, as they file for election on-line in the elections office Monday morning. Behind, Sheriff Brett Myers glances over as he enters the office to file likewise.

The Whitman County Elections office was a popular place Monday morning at 9 a.m. as candidates turned out to file for this year’s election. Monday was the opening day for candidate filing which will end May 18 at 4 p.m.

Whitman County incumbents turned up at the election’s office to use the laptops located there to file. Public equipment or resources, except those available at the elections office, cannot be used for filling.

First to file was Dan LeBeau for District Court Judge. While Sandy Jamison of Garfield, who is running for auditor, was first to arrive to pick up an elections packet, she waited for LeBeau and Commissioner Michael Largent to use the two laptops before filing herself.

Commissioner Art Swannack then filed for a precinct committee officer position. Others who arrived that morning were Robin Jones, assessor; Brett Myers, sheriff, and Mark Clinton, treasurer. By the end of the day Monday, other filings were from Rob Rembert and John Hart, both of Pullman and both candidates for district court judge, and Annie Pillers for county coroner.

On Tuesday, the only person to file for a county seat was Denis Tracy, who is seeking to retain his county prosecutor title. Chris Nelson visited the elections office that day with questions and indicated she still intended to file for county treasurer, but did not at the time of her visit.

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the only other people who had announced their intentions to run but had not filed were Eric Fejeran and John-Mark Mahnkey, both Democrats from Pullman. Fejeran announced his intention for the auditor seat while Mahnkey had declared for the commissioner three position.

Candidates who have not started the online process by 4 p.m. on Friday can still file in person up until 5 p.m. in the county elections office, 304 N Main street, Colfax, however the elections department encourages everyone interested to file on-line.

To do so, log on to whitmancounty.org, scroll down to “Candidate filing for the August 7, 2018 Primary Election”, and click on the link provided.