‘Despicable.’ Tri-Cities lawmaker responds to man accused of 'stalking’ her family
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- Nikki Torres called it despicable that party members camped outside her family home.
- A 21-year-old Kennewick man, Trevor Delorme, was arrested in the April stalking incident.
- Torres says political leaders have “responsibility to lower the temperature.”
Republican state Senate candidate on Friday said it was “despicable” for members of her own party to camp outside her family’s home, leaving her daughter and granddaughter scared and fearing for their safety.
Sen. Nikki Torres’ post to her campaign social media accounts marked her first wholesale condemnation of the April incident that lead to the arrest of a 21-year-old Kennewick man for stalking. Torres first told the Tri-City Herald of the incident on Monday.
The individual, Trevor Delorme, said he did not intend to harm Torres’ family when he visited a home occupied by her family multiple times over the span of three days. Instead, he was trying to gather evidence for a voter registration challenge that would disqualify her from running in the 8th Legislative District.
“Over the past several weeks, I have watched some people attempt to excuse conduct that no family should ever have to endure simply because it was done in the name of politics. That is just not acceptable,” Torres wrote Friday on Facebook.
“Across our country, we are seeing more threats, intimidation, and political violence directed at elected officials and their families. Every leader has a responsibility to lower the temperature, not normalize conduct that leaves families wondering why strangers are sitting outside their homes,” she continued.
Torres also took aim at her opponent, fellow Republican Gabe Galbraith, saying he should “understand that children are off limits” and that “political ambition should never come before the safety of a child.”
Delorme said this week that Galbraith — who currently serves as president of the Kennewick School Board — and Benton County Republicans answered questions and provided guidance on how to go about challenging voter registration.
“I am a Republican who has stood strong in Olympia for Republican priorities for four years in the Senate, yet my opponent, and potentially people within the BCRP, think eliminating me from this race is worth putting my baby granddaughter on the front lines of this campaign. That is despicable,” Torres said.
A staff member on Galbraith’s campaign said Friday Galbraith was not available to comment on her claims.
The two are vying for the district’s sole Senate seat being vacated this year by Matt Boehnke, the Kennewick Republican, who has chosen instead to run for Congress in Washington’s 4th Congressional District. Both Torres and Galbraith are Republicans.
The race has slowly turned into a bitter Republican-on-Republican matchup that could test the durability of the Senate Republicans Caucus’ sway in the Mid-Columbia region.
Torres said Delorme was seen “several times, including late at night, taking pictures of vehicles, repeatedly returning to their neighborhood, and photographing” her 6-year-old granddaughter.
“When a strange man spends hours outside of your daughter’s home, as a young mother with a child inside that home, wouldn’t you do the same thing my daughter did — call the police for help?” she asked. “ I think every parent and grandparent already understands their priority is to protect children.”
Delorme, 21, denied to the Herald that he took photos of her family. And he said he went there of his own volition.
“I did nothing wrong. This is a protected activity, and the fact that these charges are being brought against me is bogus,” he said after his court hearing in Franklin County on Wednesday.
Torres said she has responded to formal claims filed to the Franklin County Auditor’s Office by Pasco voter Richard Weiss, who claimed she does not live at the Road 64 house listed on her voter registration.
Torres has had to change her voter registration twice since she resigned from the Pasco City Council in 2022 to run for state office. She owns the house her daughter and granddaughter reside at, and has lived in Pasco for 47 years. She said she currently lives at a different address in Pasco that is in the 8th Legislative District.
“I chose public service. My daughter didn’t. My granddaughter certainly did not. There are some things that are bigger than politics. Protecting our children is one of them,” Torres said.
