Late last week, the Spokane County Republican Party released details on how people can throw their name in the hat to be considered as a replacement Spokane County treasurer.
It's expected that in late December, Spokane County Treasurer Michael Baumgartner will resign his role as he prepares to be sworn in as Washington's 5th Congressional District representative to the U.S. House.
Because he's a Republican, the county Republican Party will get to choose three Republican nominees to forward to the Spokane County Board of County Commissioners, who will then select someone from the list to replace Baumgartner.
Those who want to participate in the county Republican Party's evaluation and vetting process, which offers the chance to provide more information and participate in a longer interview with the vetting committee, should go to SpokaneGOP.com/contact and ask for the "candidate evaluation form."
The form asks candidates to share their social media accounts, relevant experience and what key performance indicators they think voters could hold them to. It also asks whether they have criminal convictions or unresolved tax liens, have filed for bankruptcy, or have other conflicts of interest.
A variety of other questions include where our rights as citizens of the United States come from, under what conditions the government can suspend those rights, whether the candidate is a constitutional originalist, when they believe life begins and whether the government has a duty to protect it, and more.
The evaluation forms are due by 5 pm on Friday, Nov. 29.
Then, on Saturday, Dec. 7, the vetting committee plans to conduct interviews at the Spokane GOP office at 901 N. Monroe St. They'll rank candidates in order of preference and present them to members of the party in January, after a new chair is elected.
Candidates don't have to fill out the form or participate in the interviews to be considered for nomination by the central committee. They will, however, need to fill out a declaration that they are Republican, says Rob Linebarger, the chair of the party's candidates committee.
"It's a voluntary process," Linebarger says. "Per our bylaws there is no requirement for a potential candidate to go through the process."
Ideally, the vetting committee will include about a dozen people, with about half being Republican precinct committee officers and the rest being other interested volunteers. There's no requirement for members of the vetting committee to be Republicans, and in the past those committees have included business owners who may lean left on some issues and right on others, or simply lean toward the middle of the political spectrum, Linebarger says.
Either the Spokane County commissioners will select someone from the three nominees put forward by the party, or, if they can't agree, the governor will choose someone from the list to serve as treasurer.
Whoever is appointed will need to run for election in 2025 if they want to remain in the seat. Whoever is elected in November 2025 will then serve one year and to keep the seat they would need to run again in 2026, which is when the seat returns to its normal four-year cycle, Spokane County Elections Manager Mike McLaughlin says.
Baumgartner offered an endorsement for his replacement last week, but Linebarger says the party will not consider the endorsement as part of its official process.
"We want the grassroots to have a voice in this," Linebarger says. "We want a totally fair and open process." ♦