For once, coroner election will be contested

YAKIMA, Wash. — Two more candidates filed to run for Yakima County coroner Friday morning, setting up the county's first contested coroner race in at least 35 years.

Alberta Redwing and Melinda Shopp both formally became candidates on the last day of the filing period, Redwing as a Republican and Shopp as a Democrat.

Redwing, 45, a former Benton County deputy coroner, was a finalist for appointment to the Yakima County position earlier this year after Coroner Maury Rice retired.

The county commissioners appointed Rice's former deputy, Republican Jack Hawkins, despite Redwing being the top choice of Yakima County Republican Party precinct committee officers.

"I was honored to be chosen by them," Redwing said of the precinct committee officers. "I believe it was my qualifications that spoke for themselves. ... I believe the PCOs got it right," Redwing said.

The commissioners said they chose Hawkins because they believed he'd done a good job heading the coroner's office on an interim basis since Rice's retirement.

Hawkins on Friday downplayed the significance of his third-place finish among Republican party officers, who were charged with identifying and ranking three finalists for the job. He blamed that on the fact he was running the coroner's office full time during that process and didn't have time to meet face-to-face with the precinct officers.

All he needed was to be in the top three -- there were five applicants for the appointment -- to be a finalist eligible for appointment by the commissioners.

"They made me a finalist," he said. "I appreciate very much their support."

Hawkins said he has similar support from local law enforcement, funeral homes and forensic pathologists, all of whom have known him for years.

Before becoming Rice's deputy, Hawkins, 59, was a sheriff's deputy and a police officer in Yakima and Toppenish.

"I was born and raised right here in Yakima," Hawkins said Friday. "I have 30-plus years in public service here in Yakima County."

Redwing believes she can compensate for her relative lack of name recognition by connecting face-to-face with voters.

"I will be out there campaigning and knocking on doors and introducing myself to everyone I can introduce myself to," she said.

Shopp, 59, said her 25 years experience in nursing and six years experience working in corrections differentiate her from the other candidates. A member of the International Association of Forensic Nurses, Shopp is also a business owner. She and her husband run the Little Red Hen yarn shop in Yakima.

"I'd bring a new perspective to this job," she said. "And it's a more approachable perspective. ... My background as a nurse has made me more attentive to people's needs."

Though she's running as a Democrat, Shopp said it has always seemed peculiar to her that the coroner's office is partisan.

"I don't think the party necessarily plays any role in making one candidate more desirable than the other," she said.

Whoever wins this fall will serve one year to finish Rice's term. The seat will then be up for election for a full four-year term.

* Pat Muir can be reached at 509-577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.