Rob, Rob and Bob face off for Valley state House seat

Three Roberts are vying for a seat in the state House of Representatives to represent Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake.

Rob Chase, the incumbent, and Bob Curtis are the two Republican candidates in the race. Rob Tupper is a Democrat. The top two candidates with the most votes in the Aug. 4 primary will advance to the November election.

Taxes and affordability are among the biggest issues talked about by the candidates, but Tupper and Curtis have strong opinions on Chase's time in the House.

Chase was first elected as a state representative in 2020. He lost his re-election bid in 2022, but won a seat two years later and hopes to keep it in the November contest. He said he's running to finish what he started - particularly a new concept for an old idea: politically separating Eastern Washington from Puget Sound.

For decades some conservative legislators in Eastern Washington have called for splitting Washington in two. Chase's plan would do that in a different way than many earlier proposals by creating two autonomous regions within Washington state boundaries, one called the Puget Sound region, the other Columbia. The bill, he said, would divide the state without needing Congressional approval, but it would take a two-thirds vote in the Legislature. The two regions would have regional governors, judges and legislators, but would remain one state for federal elections. Chase said the legislation would help folks in rural and Eastern Washington who feel their voices go unheard and unrepresented in Olympia.

"The West Side could keep their money and fix their ferry systems and if we had a lower tax lower regulation, lots of businesses would come here. We wouldn't be a whole lot different than northern Idaho," he said.

If re-elected, Chase plans to push for the bill to get a public hearing in the next legislative session. He says people on both sides of the state are supporters.

Tupper called Chase's plan to split the state "fiscally ridiculous."

"Rep Chase is preoccupied with a fantasy," Tupper said.

Eastern Washington counties bring in around $2.2 billion in tax revenue and the state returns roughly $2.9 billion, which means Eastern Washington gets $733 million in subsidies from Western Washington, Tupper said. Of every $100 paid in taxes in Eastern Washington, the state returns $133.

Tupper said he is running for the position to give voters a Democratic choice. He decided to run after listening to a town hall where Chase introduced his bill that would effectively split Washington.

"I don't recall if I asked the question or somebody else asked the question about the finances part of the thing, and being kind of attuned to numbers, his answer was quite unsettling," Tupper said.

After talking to Spokane Valley City Councilman Tim Hattenburg, Tupper put his name in the running.

Curtis sees merits in Chase's proposal.

"For too long, the east side of Washington has felt neglected by the west side. However, I do not think that a split is realistically in the future of the state," Curtis said. "Federal laws and financial restrictions make splitting the state much harder and costly than the bill represents."

Curtis said if elected, his time would be better spent on other issues people are navigating in Eastern Washington, such as economic growth and community safety.

Tupper said his focus would be on state tax revenue and making it more transparent for people. He's also interested in finding a way to incentivize larger employers to use nonprofit health insurance agencies rather than for-profit agencies.

"I'd like to see the state do more to support childcare agencies, childcare services," Tupper said. "The cost of childcare is insane, and whatever the state can do to bring those childcare costs down should be pursued aggressively."

Tupper said if he's elected, people can count on him to study how taxes are spent and challenge unfair distributions.

This is Curtis' first time running for office, but he served as a Republican precinct committee officer from 2020 to 2022. If elected, Curtis said he would focus on the new state income tax to stop Democrats from expanding it beyond millionaires and ensuring that the working class is not overtaxed.

"So many people are against the state income tax, but yet the Democrats over there still just ignored us and put it through anyway, because they have the supermajority over there in Olympia," he said. "I know that we're not going to be able to get it removed or revoked, however, I do feel that I can go over there and do things like put in place measures that are going to guarantee that they can't reduce that millionaire's deduction."

If elected, Curtis said he would try to emulate Ben Wick, a Spokane Valley city councilman, and state Sen. Leonard Christian.

Chase voted against the state income tax on million-dollar earners that was approved this year and voted for a bill to require school districts to provide parents with a copy of their child's special education evaluation report within 35 school days, which creates a clear timeline for meetings where eligibility for special education is discussed and determined.

Chase also supported citizen initiatives that never made it to the floor - one which bans athletes assigned male at birth from competing in girls' sports and another which gives parents authority over their child's education and healthcare.

Chase is the only candidate in the race who says climate change is not affected by human activity. He said the state shouldn't be focused on actions that slow climate change.

"I don't believe man-made global warming is a threat," Chase said. "...The Climate Commitment Act is taxing the air we breath. China and India aren't even paying any attention to that. There are other conservation things we should be focused on. Declaring a war on plastic is more important."

Chase, however, said he opposes the fees placed on plastic bags at grocery stores. Chase said he's concerned about keeping fish alive in local rivers, lakes and the ocean. Plastic litter kills too many fish and wildlife, he said.

"I'm not sure how helpful that is," Chase said. "We need to clean up after ourselves. It's about being good stewards of our land and waters."

Tupper said that increasing fossil fuel use contributes to climate change and believes the state should preserve its forests, revive nuclear energy research, invest in agricultural research and prioritize reducing residential and commercial building energy consumption with carbon credit funds.

Curtis believes that climate change is affected by human activity . The state should develop more public transportation options in Spokane like the rail system in Seattle to start fixing the issue, Curtis said.

"Current representatives are more focused on personal agenda items, not what people actually want or need," Curtis said.

Chase and Curtis support more limitations on abortion . Chase said ectopic pregnancies would be his only exception to the no-abortion rule and believes life begins at conception. Children born out of rape or incest should have just as many rights as children born from consensual sex, Chase said.

Curtis said he believes legal abortions should be reserved for pregnancy from rape, incest or pregnancies that risk the death of the mother or child.

"We need better education and resources to help reduce unwanted pregnancies from occurring. Rather than terminating life in the womb, we need better regulated and funded foster care and adoption service programs," Curtis said.

Tupper said that it is not the government's business to interfere in private matters like abortion. He said his belief is grounded in Christianity.

"Christ met people in their present circumstance. His teachings compel believers to hold compassion for all - including the woman who has ended a pregnancy or might be wrestling with implications of this newly-legal choice," Tupper said.

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This story was originally published June 7, 2026 at 8:04 AM.