Friday marked the end of the state’s election filing week, setting up competitive races for two Cowlitz County commissioner seats.
All races with three or more candidates will appear on the Aug. 6 primary ballot to narrow down most seats to the top two candidates. The general election will be held on Nov. 5.
County commissioners
The busiest election in the county is the race for commissioner District 2, the seat currently held by Dennis Weber, where six candidates filed to run for office before the 5 p.m. deadline.
Weber, who first started his term in 2013, did not file and previously said he would not run for re-election.
People are also reading…
The race includes three Republican candidates: former Longview City Councilmember Hal Palmer, former Longview Parks Board member and local volunteer Rayleen Aguirre, and Steve Ferrell, a state committee representative for the Cowlitz County Republican Party.
The sole Democrat who filed to run is Amy Norquist, a Longview resident and development director for Lower Columbia School Gardens.
There are also two independent candidates in the District 2 race: Longview’s Recreation Manager Justin Brown and first-time candidate Jo Zichterman.
The District 1 commissioner race to replace Mortensen, who also did not file for re-election, has three Republican candidates: Keenan Harvey, Steve Rader and Mike Reuter.
Two of the candidates in the race are political veterans — Harvey was re-elected to the Kelso City Council in 2023 and Reuter has been the mayor of Kalama since 2017. Rader has not held office before but was supported by Mortensen when he announced his campaign in March.
State Legislature, Congress
All three Republican representatives for the 19th District are running for re-election, but Rep. Joel McEntire is the only one who drew multiple challengers. McEntire will be opposed by Terry Carlson, a Democrat from Longview, and Libertarian Justin Franks from South Bend.
Longview Sen. Jeff Wilson will be challenged by Andi Day, a Democrat from Seaview. Mike Coverdale, a Democrat from Westport, filed to run against Rep. Jim Walsh.
The deadline also officially sets four candidates in the Congressional race for the 3rd District: Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Republican Joe Kent, Republican Leslie Lewallen and a new independent candidate from Camas, John Saulie-Rohman.
Precinct committee officers
Local elections will take place in precincts with competitive races for the Democrat and Republican precinct committee officers.
The most notable local contest is the Republican officer for Longview’s Laurel precinct, where Longview councilmember Keith Young and former councilmember Mike Wallin are both running against the current Republican officer. Wallin is also suing Young and three other Longview councilmembers for alleged Open Public Meeting Acts violations.
Two other Republican precinct races have notable political face-offs. Weber is competing with Scott Beck, who ran for the Longview School District board in 2023, and Pete Oublette to represent the Sacajawea South precinct. In the Ammons precinct, Longview councilmember Erik Halvorson and city council candidate Randy Knox are running against Riley McNeal for the officer seat.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include all the unopposed candidates and more information on precinct committee officers.
Brennen Kauffman is a reporter for The Daily News covering government, with a concentration on Longview and Kelso.
Brennen Kauffman
Reporter
