Manweller, Selmann gear up for 13th seat race

EPHRATA - It's time to wave the green flag on the race to fill outgoing state Rep. Bill Hinkle's 13th-district seat in the House of Representatives.

Republican and Central Washington University professor Matt Manweller, of Ellensburg, beat out Democrat and Moses Lake developer Kaj Selmann nearly three to one in Grant County.

Though both will advance to the November ballot, Manweller walked away with 74 percent of the local vote, and 70 percent of the entire district's marks.

Selmann came home with 26 percent of Grant County's ballots, and fared better with the district overall with 30 percent.

The newly re-drawn 13th district covers most of Grant County, all of Lincoln and Kittitas counties, and a sliver of northeast Yakima County.

"Obviously the numbers were good for us," Manweller said. "The fact that we pulled 75 percent out of Grant County is phenomenal."

Now that the Democrats in the area have gotten to know him, Selmann said he's ready to "actually start campaigning," he said.

"Given the difference in our spending, I'm pretty pleased at where I'm sitting at this point," he said.

The Democrat said that, due to the nature of their businesses, Manweller had a higher profile leading up to the primary.

"Summer is my busy season, and, being a professor, he has summers off," Selmann said.

Manweller countered that he wasn't concerned about the upcoming fall semester.

"Obviously there will be less time campaigning as I'll be spending more time with work, but that's just the reality of life," Manweller said.

Selmann, on his first campaign, said he was looking for guidance from local party officials before affiliating himself with one.

But just because he chose the Democratic party doesn't preclude him from being a moderate, he said.

"The Democrats have been helpful. I talked to most party chairs early on and decided that I'd rather be asked what I think than told what I think," he said.

Selmann called the voters of the 13th district pragmatic people who reach across the aisle to address the issues facing them, something he said Manweller doesn't do.

"He has a history of divisiveness, a whole lot of blame, and a whole lot of stuff not getting done," Selmann said of him. "He doesn't represent the Republican Party's values."

Manweller, who has been endorsed by the Republican parties of Grant, Lincoln and Kittitas counties, said that the race isn't about left versus right, but up versus down.

"For the last year we've run only all-policy ads. We hope to continue to have a strong policy debate," Manweller said. "The only thing that would sideline that would be if the other side decided to go negative or go personal. And we hope that doesn't happen."