The race is on: ML school board, Quincy City Council seats contested after second day of candidate filing

EPHRATA — One of the seats on the Moses Lake School Board will be on the primary ballot in August, a Moses Lake City Council member will face a challenger, and there are two contested Quincy City Council races. Also, recently appointed Grant County Superior Court Judge Tyson Hill will run to retain his seat.

Tuesday was the second day of candidate filing for offices open in the 2021 election.

Three candidates filed Tuesday for Position 4 on the Moses Lake School Board, bringing to four the number of competitors for the seat. Candidates filing Tuesday included Kevin Fuhr, Matt Paluch and James Liebrecht.

Fuhr is the Moses Lake Police chief and was interim Moses Lake city administrator for part of 2019. Rachel Roylance Gallachi filed for the position on Monday, With at least four candidates, the race will be on the primary ballot Aug. 2.

The incumbent is Elliott Goodrich, who announced earlier this year he didn’t plan to run for a second term.

Incumbent Moses Lake council member Mike Riggs will be challenged by Deanna Martinez for Position 1. Incumbent council members Karen Liebrecht and David Curnel filed for re-election.

Mark Fancher filed for council Position 4, currently held by Daryl Jackson.

Incumbent Vickey Melcher will be challenged for her seat on the Moses Lake School Board by Noah Zemke. It would be Melcher’s second term.

Hill will run for a two-year term. He was appointed to the Superior Court bench in April, replacing John Antosz, who retired earlier in the year.

There are at least two contested races for the Quincy City Council. Oscar Romero filed Tuesday for council Position 5, setting up a race with Dave Dormier. The incumbent is David Day.

Eduardo Castaneda-Diaz filed for council Position 4, challenging incumbent Andrew Royer, who filed Monday. Castaneda-Diaz ran for the Washington state House of Representatives in 2020.

Quincy mayor Paul Worley filed for a second term.

Ben Addink filed for Position 2 on the Ephrata City Council, the seat currently held by Mark Wanke. Ryan Piercy filed for a seat on the Royal City City Council. The incumbent is Gary Fanning.

Incumbent Corey Everett filed for a new term on the Othello City Council, and incumbent Tony Acosta filed for re-election to the Mattawa City Council.

Nick Trejo filed for Position 2 on the Wahluke School Board, currently held by Jesse Chiprez. Luke Jenne filed for Position 5 on the Wahluke board. Lorraine Jenne is the incumbent.

Incumbent Liliana Garcia filed for a new term on the Quincy School Board, as did Ephrata School Board incumbents Anita Walter and Jim Adams for their board.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached at [email protected].