GOLDENDALE, Wash. -- David Taylor is off to Olympia.

The 37-year-old Moxee agricultural consultant is expected to be there this morning, a day after commissioners from four counties met in Goldendale and voted him the newest state representative.

Taylor, a Republican, replaces Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, who left the state House last month when Gov. Chris Gregoire appointed him head of the state Department of Agriculture.

“They’re putting a lot of trust in me,” Taylor said. “Now it’s time to earn that trust.”

Commissioners from the 15th District’s four counties — Yakima, Klickitat, Skamania and Clark — appointed Taylor on the first ballot Monday. He needed a majority of the 12 votes and got eight.

Jacob Anderson, a 25-year-old Klickitat County farmer and the favorite among 15th District Republican precinct committee officers, got the other four votes. Don Vlieger, a 49-year-old former Sunnyside councilman, received no votes from the commissioners.

Immediately after the voting ended, Skamania and Klickitat county Superior Court Judge E. Thompson Reynolds swore in Taylor as a state representative.

Taylor said he planned to spend the rest of Monday making “about 40 phone calls, to finish putting everything in order” before leaving for Olympia first thing this morning.

He attributed his victory to a breadth of experience that includes cattle ranching in Moxee, county planning in Kittitas County and working with lawmakers in Olympia through industry associations and his company, Taylor Consulting Group.

He’s worked on agriculture issues with Reps. Janéa Holmquist, R-Moses Lake; Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum; Bruce Chandler, R-Granger; and Charles Ross, R-Yakima, among others, he said.

“I can essentially hit the ground running (on agriculture issues),” he said. “I’ve got that core. I’ve got those relationships already established.”

All three Yakima County commissioners voted for Taylor. Commissioner Kevin Bouchey agreed that Taylor’s background put him ahead of the other finalists for the open seat.

“His knowledge of water, his knowledge of growth-management issues — those are just key issues to Yakima County,” Bouchey said. “There is no learning curve for him.”

Because he’s an appointee, his seat will be up for election this fall. The winner of that race will then face election again the next year, when Newhouse’s term would have ended.

That’s where Taylor’s residence in Yakima County comes into play, county Republican Party Chairman Max Golladay said. The majority of the 15th District’s population — including Sunnyside, its largest city — is in Yakima County.

“As far as keeping the seat, it’s important,” Golladay said. “It’s important just because of the percentage of voters that are in Yakima County.”