This Richland woman failed to unseat a councilman. Now she’s running for governor

A controversial former Richland City Council candidate now going after Washington state’s top office.

Lisa Thomas declared her candidacy for governor late Monday in an online filing with the Secretary of State’s Office.

As of midday Tuesday, she was one of eight people to file for the post, including current Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee.

She is the only candidate, so far, from Eastern Washington.

However, Thomas has not yet registered her candidacy with the state Public Disclosure Commission. That site lists 18 people for governor.

The primary election is Aug. 4 and the general election is Nov. 3.

Thomas could not be reached Tuesday because no phone number or email was included with her online candidacy information.

One month ago, Thomas joined with Franklin County Commissioner Clint Didier in challenging the constitutionality of Inslee’s statewide stay-home order during the coronavirus pandemic.

She started a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money for a lawyer, and on May 1 filed a federal lawsuit along with Didier, tax activist Tim Eyman and four others.

Thomas, who lives in Richland, is a registered nurse and mother of three. She did not give a party preference in her candidate filing, but has often aligned herself with Republican politicians and causes.

Didier is chairman of both the Franklin County Commission and the Franklin County Republican Party.

Eyman, a Republican, also is running for governor, according to the Public Disclosure Commission. He had not yet filed Tuesday for the office.

Thomas was unsuccessful in her bid last November to unseat Richland Councilman Phil Lemley. It was her first time running for public office.

In the month leading up to the election, Thomas became embroiled in the divorce filing between the Benton County sheriff and his estranged wife, and later filed her own sexual misconduct complaint against the Benton County prosecutor.

Monica Hatcher, in seeking a protection order against Jerry Hatcher, wrote that her husband had an extramarital affair with Thomas and she had copies of Facebook and text messages between the two.

Thomas handled Jerry Hatcher’s social media posts during his campaign for sheriff.

Monica Hatcher referred to the relationship in her petition because she said it was in December 2017 during a fight about the affair that Jerry Hatcher allegedly choked his wife and made a threat.

Less than a week after that legal filing, Thomas went to the Richland Police Department to accuse Prosecutor Andy Miller of touching her inappropriately at her Richland home in June 2018.

Richland police later closed Thomas’ complaint after determining there was insufficient evidence to support her claim.

Thomas followed up that decision with a statement from an attorney, saying her name was “inappropriately used” in the Hatchers’ divorce case and calling the Richland Police Department’s handling of her complaint a “tainted investigation.”

She did not attend candidate forums, and never returned phone calls or emails from the Tri-City Herald about her political intentions or allegations.

Candidate filing week ends online at 4 p.m. Friday.

This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 2:24 PM.