CATHLAMET — With in-person filing as a candidate for public office in Wahkiakum County beginning May 5 and concluding May 9, the 2025 election season is now underway.
Not long after, incumbent John Mason filed to continue to serve as county sheriff.
On Thursday, May 8, Josh Grasseth also filed as a candidate for sheriff. Grasseth was a deputy under then Sheriff Bardsley from 2003 to 2009. Following his resignation in 2009 from the sheriff’s office during Bardsley’s term, Grasseth served in a law enforcement capacity within the Lower Elwa Police Department before returning to his hometown of Cathlamet.
This is the second time he has run for the office, having previously run against John Dearmore in 2010 before being defeated in the primary by Troy Norris.
A member of the sheriff’s office for more than 10 years, Mason, with the recommendation of then Sheriff Mark Howie, was appointed by the Wahkiakum Board of County Commissioners in 2024 to serve as sheriff following Howie’s retirement that June. The appointment is effective until the results of the November 2025 election are determined.
The term of the upcoming election is one year in order to fill out the full term to which Howie had been elected and put the office of sheriff back on its normal four-year election cycle.