Deputy prosecutor says her old Benton Co. boss is failing. She wants the job
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- Julie Long, a veteran deputy prosecutor, announced she will challenge Eric Eisinger.
- Long said Eisinger’s business-style changes have taken the emphasis off victims.
- Eisinger supports running the office more efficiently and has local Republican backing.
A longtime Benton County deputy prosecutor believes her former boss is taking the office in the wrong direction.
Julie Long, a 27-year veteran of the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office, announced last week that she is running to unseat Prosecutor Eric Eisinger in the November election. They are both republicans.
Monday marked the start of filing week for the August primary. The candidates who make it past that point move on to the general election in November. Long has not officially filed as of Tuesday morning, but told the Tri-City Herald that she would.
Eisinger has filed for reelection.
Long’s announcement puts her as the first challenger for the first-term prosecutor who was elected in 2022. And if she wins, she will be the first woman to hold the position.
It’s rare for incumbent prosecutors to face challengers. The position requires a law degree, which limits the number of people who can hold the job.
Even during former Prosecutor Andy Miller’s 39-year-long career, he only faced two challengers in elections — both of those came early in his career.
Long, who spent much of her career working for Miller before leaving in 2025, was critical of Eisinger’s push to make the office run more like a business. She said those changes have taken the emphasis off of victims.
“We’re a public service,” she told the Herald. “We serve the citizens of Benton County. ... We’re not out searching for clients or building wealth. .... We serve at the will of the Benton County voters. (The office is meant) to serve justice and aggressively prosecute cases.”
Eisinger, who said he liked both Long and Miller, said he wants the department to run efficiently, and that doesn’t make it less victim-focused.
“I’m really determined that this office should run much better than your normal government agency,” he said. “If I’m going to be the prosecutor, I’m going to advocate for a better run office. I’m going to advocate for working smarter and being critical of where we can do better. That serves the victims and the community.”
A Career Criminal Prosecutor
Long tried 100 cases during her 27 years at the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office. This included aggravated murder, serious violent offenses and time spent in district, juvenile and superior court.
She has racked up a high number of wins at trial both in Benton and Franklin counties, including the life sentence for Richard Jacobson, who murdered his girlfriend and left her body in the Columbia River, and two men who fired into a crowded Pasco nightclub.
Her longtime boss had high words of praise for her when she left the position.
“No one has obtained justice that rolls down like waters better than Julie Long,” Miller said in a Facebook post when she left the office in 2025. “She ... showed a tremendous work ethic, a genuine compassion for victims, great working relationship with law enforcement while earning respect from defense bar and judges.”
Long believes that experience is what makes her uniquely qualified to give guidance and leadership to the office. Something she said it is currently lacking.
She pointed out that she has been in leadership positions for years and led the criminal division under both Eisinger and Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant.
She plans to stay in the courtroom if she’s elected and take a caseload. Something she criticized Eisinger for.
She would like to continue working with the Metro Drug Task Force.
“He doesn’t have enough experience to mentor the younger deputy prosecuting attorneys,” Long said.
While she was critical of Eisinger, she believes the attorneys working for him are good at their jobs.
Not willing to change
Eisinger said Long was “institutionalized” and struggled with changes being made in the department. He argued that she was stuck in old ways of thinking and resisted improving the office.
“The office needs someone who is going to identify problems and make real improvements,” he said. “I’ve been doing that slow enough so the office can withstand the change. Ultimately, that is what led to her departure from Benton County.”
Eisinger said leading the office takes more than just prosecuting individual cases. The prosecutor is responsible for leading an entire team. He said the position is “largely administrative, setting effective policy, building relationships with various officials and finding ways to develop the attorneys and staff.”
He said he has also increased the number of employees in middle management, and believes that improvement has left the office in a better place.
“You can’t fight crime on an island without having allies in police and allies in the community,” he said. “The job is about more than handling murder cases. There are issues in Washington state right now that require having a little more breadth of experience.”
Endorsements
Long’s list of endorsements has many familiar names from local law enforcement, including:
• Former Kennewick police commanders Craig Littrell, Aaron Clem and BJ Moos
• Retired Richland police leaders Capt. Mike Cobb and Commander Darryl Judge
• Former Benton County Sheriffs Steve Kean and Larry Taylor
• Former Judge Carrie Runge.
She also is being endorsed by Benton County Commissioner Jerome Delvin, Clerk Josie Delvin and former Commissioner Shon Small.
There are several other police officers included on the list of endorsements.
Long explained that the police department policies don’t allow currently working officers to endorse candidates.
Eisinger has the support of the Benton County Republican Party, and many leaders from the county and cities including Sheriff Mike Clark, Benton County commissioners Will McKay and Michael Alvarez, the mayors of Richland Kennewick, Pasco and West Richland and state Reps. Stephanie Barnard and Mark Klicker.