The Top Ranked Candidates For Appointment To Washington 15th District House Seat

This is a summary of information on each of the three top ranked candidates (as selected by Republican Precinct Committee Officers) to fill the vacancy in the 15th District House Seat.  Dan Newhouse, who was elected to the post, has been appointed to Governor Gregoire’s cabinet, as head of the Department of Agriculture.

County commisioners from the four counties in the district (Yakima, Clark, Skamania, and Klickitat) will make the final decision on who is to be appointed to the position.  The position will then be up for election in November.

Eight candidates were nominated at the PCO meeting.  They were Jacob Anderson, Don Vlieger, Michael Garvison, Gary Clark, David Stanton, Debra Manjarrez, David Taylor, and Mike Wallace.  PCOs engaged in multiple rounds of balloting to winnow the candidates down to the final three.  By my count, it took 13 rounds of voting before this was done.

Jacob Anderson, the first candidate to reach a majority of the vote, did so after five rounds of voting.  Mr. Anderson is from White Salmon.  He spends time working on his family’s farm, as well as working in his family’s business, Anderson’s Custom Sawing.  He is a graduate of the University of Idaho, and has experience within several business and political associations.  He also serves as Secretary on the Executive Board of the Klickitat County Republicans.

David Taylor, the second candidate to reach a majority in the voting, did so after another five rounds of voting.  Mr. Taylor is from Moxee.  He is the owner of Taylor Consulting Group.  The firm does business in government relations, water and land use, research and legal analysis.  He also owns some cattle.  Taylor graduated from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, and worked previously in the Ellensburg planning department.

Don Vlieger, the third candidate to reach a majority, did so after only three more rounds of voting.  Mr. Vlieger is from Sunnyside.  He owns the Sunnyside Inn Bed & Breakfast.  He previously served 7 years on the Sunnyside City Council, and ran a primary campaign for the 15th District House Seat  in 2002.  Vlieger also worked as a safety administrator in the Sunnyside School District, and is a nine year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department.  He is a graduate of Long Beach City College.