House 15th District race gets third candidate

YAKIMA, Wash. — In a busy final day of filings for elected office, a third candidate jumped into the Yakima Valley's only state legislative race Friday.

Donicio Marichalar, 41, of Grand-view will run as a Democrat, joining a field for the 15th District House that already included Democrat John Gotts of White Salmon and Republican incumbent Rep. David Taylor, 37, of Moxee.

Taylor, a midsession appointee after Dan Newhouse left the 15th District state House seat, is running on a pledge to "bring common sense back to Olympia." A rancher and land-use consultant, Taylor said the Legislature must prioritize its spending.

"I sat over there and watched for four weeks as we failed, in my opinion, to properly prioritize the budget," he said.

Gotts, who last year lost an election bid to 15th District state Rep. Bruce Chandler, is promising to push for job growth. The 42-year-old White Salmon Internet entrepreneur described an ambitious plan to have communities construct and cooperatively manage wind-power facilities as an example of something that could provide jobs.

"Bringing in jobs -- living-wage jobs (is my top priority)," he said. "It hasn't changed since I ran last election cycle."

Marichalar, a former state Department of Social and Health Services employee who is now a consultant on foster-parent issues, said he believes the Lower Yakima Valley needs one of its own to hold the seat in the House. He doesn't have experience with the agricultural issues that dominate the discourse among Central Washington's lawmakers, but he knows about the social issues there.

"Being born here, raised here -- I think it is important," Marichalar said. "I interact with the community. I'm here in the middle of it."

The man formally nominated by the 15th District Democrats last month, Rey Pascua, said Friday he will not run because of health issues in his family.

The seat is up for election this year because Newhouse, who was re-elected to it last year, left to take the helm of the state Department of Agriculture.

There were numerous other candidate filings for positions around Yakima County. The filing period ended at 5 p.m. Friday.

Candidates who filed this week are:

Legislative 15th District state House: Position 2, John Gotts, D-White Salmon; David Taylor, Moxee (i); Donicio Marichalar, Grandview

Yakima County Coroner: Jack Hawkins (i) Yakima; Alberta (Bert) Redwing; Yakima Melinda Shoop, Yakima

Yakima Prosecuting Attorney: James Hagarty (i)

Yakima City Council: District 1, Maureen S. Adkison (i), Paul George; Position 5, Sonia M. Rodriguez (i), Sharon Madson, Dave Ettl; Position 6, Mary Place, Micah D. Cawley (i); Position 7, T.J. Davis, Bill Lover (i), Benjamin A. Soria, Mitchell Smith

Grandview City Council: Position 1, Joan E. Souders (i), Mary L. Barrett; Position 2, Ed Wagner, Javier Rodriguez, Larry Bolan; Position 3, Pam Horner (i) ; Position 6, Diane R. Jennings (i)

Granger City Council: Position 1, Marisol Castro; Position 2, Donna Shipman (i), Janie Cruz; Position 3, Natalie D. Ybarra (i), Julie M. Anderson-Sharp

Harrah Town Council: Position 1, Peter Touhey (i); Position 2, Santos Castilleja (i)

Mabton City Council: Mayor, Daniel S. Jun, Vanessa A. Cervantes, Velva L. Herrera (i), Angel Reyna; Position 1, Oping P. Hutson (i); Position 2, Sophia G. Sotelo; Position 3, Maria Cepeda-Rose, Mark Gourneau

Moxee City Council: Position 1, Maravell A. Gonsioroski (i), Dave Hunter; Position 2, LeRoy J. Lenseigne (i)

Naches Town Council: Position 1, Wayne Hawver (i); Position 2, Rick Carney (i); Position 3, no candidates

Selah City Council: Position 1, Allen Schmid, John J. Gawlik; Position 2, Paul Overby (i); Position 3, Keith M. Larson (i); Position 5, Dave Smeback (i); Position 7, Kevin Jorgensen (i)

Sunnyside City Council: District 1, Jason R. Raines, Theresa Hancock (i); District 2, Thomas Warren, Mike Farmer, Jesse Hernandez Jr.; District 3, Carol Stone (i), Don Vlieger; District 4, Nick Paulakis

Tieton City Council: Position 1, Matt Riddle (i); Position 2, Juan C. Santos; Position 3, Sharon Sedgwick (i), Tina Wisnowski, Monika Motiu

Toppenish City Council: Position 1, Derald D. Ortloff (i); Position 2, Blaine Thorington (i); Position 3, Karen J. Rogers (i), Clara R. Jimenez; Positions 4 and 7, no candidates

Union Gap City Council: Position 1, Glenn C. Bateman (i), Chad Lenz, Larry Lane; Position 2, Dan Vanover (i), Delta Vincent; Position 3, Dan C. Olson (i); Position 4, Roger Wentz (i), Aubrey Reeves

Wapato City Council: Position 1, Arnulfo Valdez (i); Position 2, Rita Zuniga (i); Position 3, Refugio Roa (i); Position 4, Frank Jaime (i); Position 6, no candidate; Position 7, Juan De La Torre (i)

Zillah City Council: Mayor: Gary Clark (i); Position 1, Bob Gallagher (i); Position 2, Jeff Miles (i); Position 3, Chad Crossley (i)

Yakima Municipal Court Judge: Position 1, Kelley Olwell (i); Position 2, Susan Woodard (i)

Union Gap School District: District 3, Ron Jennings (i); Position 1, Lorena Fernandez (i)

Naches Valley School District: District 2, Bruce P. Drollinger (i); District 3, Stacy Young (i)

Yakima School District 7: Position 1, Jim Scoggins, Raymond Navarro Jr. (i); Position 2, Walt Ranta (i), Earl Steven Lee

East Valley School District: District 2, Robert Price (i); District 4, David McFadden (i); District 5, Wes Stickney

Grandview School District: District 2, Zulma Reyes (i); District 5, Paul D. Jepson (i)

Selah School District: District 1, Ryan Smith (i), Frances Harris; District 2, Kelliann Ergeson

Mabton School District: District 3, Elsa Sanchez (i); Position 1, Jeanette Williams (i)

Sunnyside School District: District 2, Darena M. AhQuin, Robert Lemos, Michelle Emery Perry; District 3, Lorenzo Garza, Jr. (i)

Toppenish School District: District 2, William L. Rogers (i); District 3, Richard D. Lommers (i), Anna Ward; District 5, Maryrose Gonzalez (i)

Highland School District: District 2, Dee Dee Trepanier (i); Position 1, Nicole Keller (i)

Granger School District: District 1, Ray H. Hull (i); District 5, no candidates

Zillah School District: District 1, Darrin Belton (i); District 2, Chris Van Antwerp; District 3, Sandra Adams (i); District 5, Dennis L. Jones (i)

Wapato School District No. 207 Director: District 1, Javier Vela; District 2, Joanne Estes (i)

West Valley School District: District 2, Staci Verbrugge (i); District 3, Michael J. Carey (i), Larry Osburn, Steve L. Smith, Timothy Andis

Mt. Adams School District: District 3, Gregory J. Bailey (i); District 4, Kip R. Ramsey, Jr. (i); District 5: no candidates

Fire District No. 1: Position 3, John H. Kobli, Craig Chronister, Mary O'Dell

Fire District No. 2: Position 3, Larry B. Davis (i), Lanny Bonsen

Fire District No. 3: Position 3, Andy R. Wright (i)

Fire District No. 4: Position 3, Joseph Gendron (i)

Fire District No. 5: Position 3, Todd Lunning (i)

Fire District No. 6: Position 3, Marcus Robert (i), George Allan

Fire District No. 7: Position 3, Rhon Raschko (i)

Fire District No. 9: Position 3, Andrew Evans (i)

Fire District No. 10: Position 3, Ryan J. Omlin (i)

Fire District No. 11: Position 3, no candidates

Fire District No. 12: Position 1, Vaughn (Jim) Merritt (i); Position 3, Marshia Goss (i)

Fire District No. 14: Position 3, George D. Pickard

Port of Grandview: District 2, Jim Sewell (i)

Port of Sunnyside: District 3, Jim Grubenhoff, St. Clair Woodworth (i)

Cowiche Sewer District: Positions 1, 2 and 3, no candidates

Terrace Heights Sewer District: Position 3, Robert Linker (i)

Naches Park and Recreation District: District 2, Kathryn Thompson (i); Districts 3 & 5, no candidates