Franklin GOP makes county commissioner endorsement. But not for Republican incumbent

Franklin County Commissioner Brad Peck eked out a win to secure a spot on the general election ballot as the Republican goes for his fourth term.

His challenger on Nov. 3 is a Democrat, Kim Lehrman.

But fellow Commissioner Clint Didier and the Franklin County Republican Party are throwing their weight behind write-in candidate Stephen Bauman.

Bauman is a cattle rancher and works in construction. He also is a Republican precinct committee officer.

The Pasco man registered his candidacy for the county commission’s District 1 seat with the state Public Disclosure Commission.

And on Sept. 10 at a special GOP party meeting, his fellow precinct committee officers voted 25 to 1 to endorse Bauman for commissioner and to give $1,000 toward his campaign.

“I certainly am not doing this on Clint’s behalf. I have known both Clint and Brad for quite a few years ... and I respect both men,” Bauman told the Tri-City Herald.

“I feel that Brad has somewhat lost his way. It seems as if he’s turning a little bit more into a professional politician and doesn’t represent the needs of the county,” he said.

Didier, who’s also chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party, said it’s about giving the voters a third choice when they fill out their ballots in six weeks.

“There’s nothing personal here. It’s all about accountability, transparency and leadership,” Didier said in a Herald interview. “I wasn’t going to vote for either (Peck or Lehrman). I was going to leave it blank, but now I’ve got someone to vote for.”

To Peck, it’s clear his own party is no longer focused on supporting conservative Republican ideals, but rather has taken up a personal agenda against a county official “that they have been unsuccessful in bullying and controlling.”

He says the party’s support of a write-in campaign is openly disrespectful to the voters and the state’s top-two primary system — and leads to a higher probability of electing the Democratic challenger.

“What message does that send to the people who voted in the primary? We are the Republican Party and we know better than you? I certainly hope not,” Peck told the Herald.

“At the end of the day, I will absolutely without hesitation respect the voice of the voters. It is extremely disappointing that our local Republican Party doesn’t seem to share that same level of respect for the voice of the people,” he added. “And I should qualify that to say some members of the local party, because it clearly isn’t all of them.”

Tight primary race

In the primary election, Peck topped the three-way race with 2,231 votes, or 35 percent. Lehrman got 2,149 votes, or 33 percent.

County Auditor Matt Beaton finished third with 2,079 votes, or 32 percent. He had garnered support from Didier, who featured one of Beaton’s campaign signs in a personal Facebook post.

Didier, a Franklin County commissioner for two years, said the Republican Party entertained a motion in August to endorse the incumbent, but only 10 voted in favor of Peck with 19 precinct committee officers voting against him.

The party held its Lincoln Day Dinner Protest on Sept. 3 in a potato cellar, with 750 people in attendance including other candidates for office from across the state in violation of state coronavirus gathering restrictions.

Didier said Bauman announced his candidacy at the dinner, and that led to the party’s special meeting the following week to discuss the new endorsement.

The commissioner said he’d heard that some county residents did not want to vote for Peck in the general election, so they were going to vote for a Democrat even though it is not their party.

Didier said he can’t do that because Democrats “don’t stand for freedom, they don’t stand for America.”

But now fellow Republicans in Franklin County have two options — the name on the ballot or the empty write-in field.

Another GOP option

Bauman said he’s had people approach him for about seven years and suggest he run for office, but it was only three to four years ago that he started paying closer attention to politics and attending Pasco council and county board meetings.

His daughter had been struggling in school but had not taken the time to speak with her teacher. Bauman’s advice was that if his daughter was not willing to say anything about it, then she didn’t have a problem.

Bauman decided he should take his own advice, and this past year became closely involved in the gubernatorial campaign of Dr. Raul Garcia of Yakima.

A Franklin County resident since moving there at age 1, Bauman said he was disappointed by the outcome of the commissioner’s race in the primary and further surprised when the party snubbed the incumbent in the failed endorsement vote.

“I was seeing the party ask for another option and I decided to give it to them,” said Bauman, who’s now running a full-fledged campaign with wife Mary serving as his manager. “I’m not seeking it because I need a job. I certainly have plenty to do in running cattle and running construction.”

“I feel that I can bring common sense to the decisions that need to be made for the county,” he added. “I don’t feel that the role of commissioner requires you to have a special pedigree. I have a love for my county, having been here for 40 years, and I believe I can represent it well.”

Didier explained that he endorsed Bauman’s move because he’s a proponent of change and thinks Peck’s 12 years in office has been long enough. He also noted how Peck initially voted with him to re-open the county in defiance of the governor’s orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, then reversed his vote.

“It’s about government — of the people, by the people and for the people. And right now there’s too much of this government is picking the winners and losers,” Didier said. “People are tired of this.”

Party divisiveness

Peck, who chaired the local party in 2013-14, said he has not attended recent meetings or the Lincoln Day Dinner because large gatherings are in violation of the state’s reopening plan. Franklin County is still in a modified Phase 1.

“The fact that I don’t like the authority given to the governor by the state Legislature doesn’t change the fact that I’m duty-bound to follow the law. And it is clear that the Republican meetings and the Lincoln Day Dinner were held in an illegal fashion,” he said. “Anyone who takes their oath of office seriously or claims to would have a difficult time explaining why they attend those meetings.”

Peck said he recognized there would be political consequences in “doing the right thing” — by avoiding the party meetings and voting against Didier’s earlier motions to re-open — but said he’s not the only one who’s disappointed with the divisiveness that has overtaken the county party.

He said he talks at least once a week with Gov. Jay Inslee’s staff and believes the county should have been allowed to change course a long time ago and open up businesses.

He added that what it should come down to is wearing masks, social distancing and sanitation practices, because it is “behaviors that lead to transmission. It isn’t about the physical location where those behaviors take place.”

Referring to a quote by the late British leader Margaret Thatcher, Peck said they attack you personally if it means they don’t have a single political argument left, and “that speaks volumes in this case.”

He said it is difficult right now for one commissioner to push his own agenda because there are three independently minded board members.

Chairman Bob Koch is retiring at the end of the year, and Peck said that’s a big part of why he decided to seek another term. Otherwise, he said, Didier would be the most experienced board member with just two years in the position.

“The board of commissioners are both the legislative and the executive branches of government at the county level. The breadth and scope of the job is much bigger than most people realize,” said Peck.

“So starting out with two brand-new commissioners and one who is almost brand-new is not, in my opinion, in the best interests of the county.”

This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM.