Local seats up for election draw flurry of candidates

EPHRATA — Two Moses Lake City Council seats and two on the Moses Lake School Board will be on the primary ballot.

Royal City and George residents also will vote on a city council race on the primary ballot. And, all Quincy City Council and Moses Lake council seat races will be contested. The mayors of Quincy, Ephrata and Mattawa will also face challengers.

The filing period for seats up for election in 2021 ended Friday. The two candidates who receive the most votes in the primary Aug. 3 advance to the general election in November.

Current Moses Lake Mayor David Curnel will face Judy Madewell and Devin Deitrick in the primary. Incumbent council member Karen Liebrecht also faces two challengers, Dustin Swartz and Eric Eleazar Salgado.

An open seat on the Moses Lake School Board attracted four candidates. Kevin Fuhr, James Liebrecht, Rachel Roylance Gallacci and Matt Paluch will compete for the seat vacated by Elliott Goodrich. Goodrich announced earlier this year he did not plan to run for a second term.

Incumbent Vickey Melcher will face two challengers for her Moses Lake school board seat, Paul Hill and Noah Zemke.

Three candidates, Ryan Piercy, Michael Christensen and Stanton Fanning, will compete for a seat on the Royal City City Council.

George City Council member Julia Schooner has two challengers for her seat, John Ammons and Katrina Rodiguez.

Quincy Mayor Paul Worley is being challenged by Luke Garrison, currently a city council member. Mattawa mayor Maria Celaya will face Sun Hwang in the general election; Hwang currently sits on the Mattawa council. Ephrata Mayor Bruce Reim will be challenged by Mohammad Said.

Incumbent Mike Riggs will face challenger Deanna Martinez in the race for the seat on the Moses Lake council. Mark Fancher and Plasido S.D. Lindsey will compete for the third open seat on the Moses Lake council. Incumbent Daryl M. Jackson did not file for re-election.

Three seats are open on the Quincy council, and all are contested races. Andrew Royer was the only council incumbent who filed for re-election, and he is being challenged by Eduardo Castenada-Diaz. Peter D. Shelton and Jeff Spence will compete for the seat being vacated by Garrison, and David Dormier and Oscar Romero are running for the third open seat. David Day did not file for re-election.

Dave Tweedy will be challenged for his seat on the Soap Lake City Council by Karen Woodhouse. Ben Addink and Kathleen Harris will run for an open seat on Ephrata City Council. Incumbent Mark Wanke did not file for re-election.

Incumbent Warden School Board member Bryce Cox will be challenged by Brandi Arredondo. Quincy School Board member Liliana Garcia also drew a challenger, Chad Lower.

Nick Trejo will challenge incumbent Jesse Chiprez for a seat on the Wahluke School Board, and an open seat on the Wahluke board attracted two candidates. Luke Jenne and Cynthia de Victoria will compete for the seat vacated by Lorraine Jenne.

Incumbent Susan Carbon will be challenged by Brian McGowan for a seat on the Samaritan Healthcare board. Gary Jacobsen will challenge incumbent Barbara Spence for a seat on the commission of Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata.

Incumbent Port of Moses Lake commissioner Kent Jones will be challenged by Kris Dexter. Incumbent Port of Othello commissioner Deena Vietzke also drew a challenger, Patrick Simmons.