A pair of county residents filed to run against incumbent 19th District legislators last week, while a trio of candidates are vying for the peninsula-based seat on the Pacific County Commission.

With a busy filing week in the rearview mirror, the stage is now set for races at the county, legislative, state and federal levels. Next on the calendar is Washington’s top-two primary election on Aug. 6, followed by the Nov. 5 general election.

Local filings

Pacific County Commissioner David Tobin, a Democrat who was appointed in January 2023 to the seat that runs from the north end of the peninsula down through Long Beach, filed to run for a full four-year term of his own. Tobin, 68, was the longtime principal at Ilwaco High School until his retirement in 2022, chairs the Long Beach Planning Commission and serves as a volunteer EMT with Pacific County Fire District No. 1.

He’ll be joined on the August primary ballot by a pair of challengers: David Anderson, running as an independent, and Rita Hall, running as a Republican. The primary election will whittle the field down to two candidates, and only voters residing in that commissioner district will vote in the primary.

Anderson, 59, is a Long Beach resident and co-owner of the Coastal Class Crepes food truck with his wife, Jessica. Anderson moved to the peninsula from Minnesota during the covid-19 pandemic, and had stints as the public works director for both Long Beach and Pacific County in 2021 and 2022. He was previously a senior public works manager for Hennepin County in Minnesota, and also worked for UnitedHealth Group.

Anderson previously sought appointment to the seat on the county commission that Tobin now holds, which became vacant after Frank Wolfe, the former Democratic commissioner, resigned over health issues. He was one of five individuals who sought to be appointed to the board, but was not one of the three candidates that the Democrats of Pacific County nominated for the county commission to then select from.

Hall, 74, is an Ocean Park resident who retired to the peninsula in 2018. Raised in Alexandria Bay, New York, she previously worked as a certified nursing assistant, ran a family rental business in southwest Florida with her late husband, Gary, and has managed several businesses and developed retail stores. She has also served as a Girl Scouts leader and has spoken before the Montana State Legislature spearheading awareness groups on issues such as water and property rights.

Commissioner Lisa Olsen, a Republican, is currently running unopposed and seeking her third term on the board in the seat that covers the remainder of south Pacific County — including Seaview, Ilwaco, Chinook and Naselle — and runs north through South Bend. Olsen, 61, previously served on the South Bend City Council and worked in the county assessor’s office for more than 30 years.

Olsen will still appear on the primary election ballot despite no one else filing for the seat. In 2022, two individuals in Pacific County ran successful write-in campaigns during the primary against incumbents who had been running unopposed and subsequently appeared on the general election ballot; Jerry Doyle and Daniel Garcia, both of whom went on to win their respective races.

Pacific County PUD Commissioner Debbie Oakes, of Long Beach, is seeking a second six-year term on that board, and faces a challenge from Ocean Park resident David McClain. Both candidates have advanced to the November general election ballot.

Oakes, 70, is a longtime peninsula resident who operated a commercial fishing business for more than four decades with her husband, John. She also previously served on the Ocean Beach School District Board of Directors in the 1990s.

McClain, 73, has lived on the peninsula with his wife since retiring in 2016. Before that, he managed a five-year, science-driven wind energy assessment of the Willapa Hills for timber companies and was a regional executive for EverPower, a company that develops and generates wind energy. McClain has served on the board of several renewable energy associations, including Renewable Northwest, American Wind Energy Association, and Northwest Independent Power Producers.

Judge Donald Richter was the only candidate to file for judge of the Pacific County Superior Court. Richter, 47, has served as superior court judge since 2019, when he was appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee following the retirement of Judge Doug Goelz. He won an election later that year to serve out the remainder of Goelz’s term, and then won his own four-year term in 2020.

Richter was previously Pacific County’s chief deputy prosecutor, and also worked as a criminal defense attorney and prosecutor in Spokane County. He earned his law degree from Gonzaga University.

Legislative races

All three incumbent 19th District legislators filed to run for re-election last week, and all three picked up challengers — including two hailing from Pacific County.

State Sen. Jeff Wilson (R-Longview) is seeking his second four-year term representing Southwest Washington in Olympia’s upper chamber, and he has drawn a challenge from Seaview resident Andi Day, running as a Democrat. Wilson, 63, is a business owner and also serves as a Port of Longview commissioner.

Day, 56, is a Naselle High School graduate and the former executive director of the Pacific County Tourism Bureau, serving in that role from 2012-22. A marketing and development consultant for destinations, travel and tourism, Day has also served on a variety of boards, including the Washington Tourism Alliance and State of Washington Tourism, the state’s official destination marketing and management organization, as chair.

State Rep. Joel McEntire (R-Cathlamet) is seeking a third two-year term in the legislature and drew a pair of challengers: Bay Center resident Justin Franks, running as a Libertarian, and Longview resident Terry Carlson, running as a Democrat. McEntire, 36, served in the U.S. Marine Corps and is a Marine Corps reservist, and previously taught at John C. Thomas Middle School in Cathlamet.

Franks, 50, has lived in Pacific County since 2016 and has previously worked for tech companies including Nielsen, a marketing research firm, and Khoros, a customer engagement software company. He ran his own business, Internet Engineering Association, from 2003-12. In December 2023, he filed a lawsuit against Nielsen in federal court alleging discrimination and retaliation.

Carlson, 44, is a processor operator for Weyerhaeuser, secretary of Longview’s Woodworkers Union and vice president of the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Labor Council. He ran for a seat on the Longview school board last year, but was eliminated in the primary.

State Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) is trying for a fifth term representing the 19th District, and is being challenged by Westport resident Mike Coverdale, running as a Democrat. Walsh, 60, also serves as chair of the Washington State Republican Party.

Coverdale, 64, has been a Realtor since the 1980s and has owned Windermere Westport since 1994. He has also served as president of the Westport-Grayland Chamber of Commerce, was a member of the Westport Planning Commission, and was a commissioner of Grays Harbor Fire District No. 3.

Congressional contest

The race for Washington’s Third Congressional District, expected to be one of the most heated and closely watched U.S. House races this fall, drew four candidates who will appear on the August primary ballot.

U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Skamania) is vying for a second term in office, while Joe Kent, a Republican from Yacolt, is seeking a rematch. The two faced off in the 2022 general election, with Perez eking out a victory by less than one percent. Prior to being elected to Congress, Perez, 35, co-owned an auto repair shop in Portland with her husband, Dean. Kent, 44, previously served in the U.S. Army.

Perez and Kent will be joined on the primary election ballot by Leslie Lewallen, a Camas city councilor running as a Republican. Lewallen, 49, previously served as a deputy prosecutor for King County and was a judicial clerk for former Chief Justice Gerry Alexander at the Washington State Supreme Court.

John Saulie-Rohman, of Camas, also filed to run for the seat as an independent. Information about his personal background was unavailable, but Saulie-Rohman, 42, is largely running on a progressive platform after a review of his campaign website.