Jim DeTro decides not to run again
Okanogan County government will see wholesale changes at the elected level in 2023, starting with the board of commissioners: When candidate filing closed on Friday (May 20), three-term incumbent Commissioner Jim DeTro had not filed for re-election to represent District 3.
At the elected department head/administrative level, three incumbents — Clerk Laurie Groomes, Coroner David Rodriguez and Treasurer Leah Mc Cormack — did not file for re-election. In each of those cases, only one candidate filed for the position, so their election to the office is pretty much assured unless a vigorous write-in campaign is successful.
Two races will have multiple contenders, with the top two vote-getters in the August primary moving on to the November general election. Filing to fill DeTro’s seat were Lloyd E. Caton Jr. of Tonasket, Aaron Kester of Tonasket, Kari Alexander of Tonasket and Jon R. Neal of Oroville.
The race for sheriff will also have three candidates aiming to emerge among the top two in August: incumbent Tony Hawley, and challengers Paul Budrow of Twisp and Kevin D. Newport of Omak. Budrow is the chief of police in Twisp.
Incumbent Superior Court judge Robert Grim will run unopposed, as will District Court judges Chancey Crowell and Charles Short. Likewise, incumbent Prosecuting Attorney Albert Lin will run unopposed.
Filing for re-election, and drawing no challengers, were Assessor Larry Gilman and Auditor Cari Hall.
DeTro has represented District 3 — which include generally the northeast third of the county — for 12 years. The two other commissioners, Chris Branch of District 1 and Andy Hover of District 2 (which includes the Methow Valley) are not up for re-election this year.
Offices on the ballot in Okanogan County include:
- Assessor, 4-year term, incumbent Larry Gilman filed for re-election, no challenger.
- Auditor, 4-year term, incumbent Cari Hall filed for re-election, no challenger.
- Clerk, 4-year term, incumbent Laurie Groomes did not file, lone candidate is Susan Speiker of Oroville.
- Coroner, 4-year term, incumbent is David Rodriguez, did not file for re-election, lone candidate is Rojean (Jeannie) Hughes of Tonasket.
- Prosecuting attorney, 4-year term, incumbent Albert Lin filed for re-election, no challenger.
- Sheriff, 4-year term, incumbent Tony Hawley filed for re-election, will be challenged by Paul Budrow of Twisp and Kevin D. Newport of Omak.
- Treasurer, 4-year term, incumbent Leah Mc Cormack did not file for re-election, lone candidate is Pam Johnson of Okanogan.
- County commissioner, District 3, 4-year term, incumbent Jim DeTro did not file for re-election, candidates are Lloyd E. Caton Jr. of Tonasket, Aaron Kester of Tonasket, Kari Alexander of Tonasket and Jon R. Neal of Oroville.
- Superior Court judge, 2-year unexpired term, incumbent Robert Grim filed for re-election, no challengers.
- District Court judge, position 1, 4-year term, incumbent Chancey Crowell filed for re-election, no challengers.
- District Court judge, position 2, 4-year term, incumbent Charles Short filed for re-election, no challengers.
- In Public Utility District No. 1, Chris Kroupa of Curlew was the only candidate to file for position No. 1, which has a 6-year term.
Other notable offices up for election:
- In U.S. Congressional District 4, 2-year term, incumbent is Dan Newhouse drew seven Republican challengers. Doug White of Yakima was the only Democrat to file.
- In Washington state Legislative District 7, which now includes Okanogan County, incumbent state Sen. Shelly Short (4-year term) will be challenged by Lonny Ray Williams of Republic. Incumbent state Reps. Jacquelin Maycumber and Joel Kretz (2-year terms) had no challengers.
For more information, visit https://voter.votewa.gov/ScheduledRaces.aspx?y=2022&c=24.
