Races for county commission, auditor and Congress get crowded as filing week continues

May 6-The position of Lewis County auditor has emerged as one of three county races that will require a primary election midway through candidate filing week on Wednesday.

Two well-known locals will face off against a less politically-experienced but well-established local accountant to fill the shoes of current Lewis County Auditor Larry Grove, who is retiring.

Mitchell Merrill was the first to file for the position as Lewis County Auditor's Office.

He is the youngest by far of the three candidates and will face off against Lewis County Planning Commission Chair Frank Corbin and Mossyrock School Board Chair Mitchell Townsend, a former chair of the Lewis County Republican Party.

In another development, former longtime Lewis County Public Utility District Commissioner Ben Kostick filed to take back his old District One seat. He lost that seat in the 2020 election to Micheal Kelly, who has since been removed from the board following a bribery charge linked to his actions as PUD commissioner.

In other races across the county and Southwest Washington, a relatively unknown candidate, Tim Toerber, has entered the race for Lewis County commissioner, adding to what is already expected to be a packed field.

Danny Riordan officially registered for the sheriff race, as expected, but other expected candidates, Matt McKnight and Kenneth Cheeseman, had yet to file as of Wednesday afternoon.

State representatives across the two legislative districts that represent Lewis County will all face Democrat-aligned challengers.

On top of it all, candidates for Congress continue to come out of the woodwork as another previously unknown candidate filed for the ballot and another announced his campaign.

Lewis County auditor

Despite being an often overlooked position in county governments, auditor is one of the more high profile races in the county this year.

Merrill comes into the election with a sweeping list of endorsements from current and former county officials.

Among the endorsements is Grove, who has served as auditor since 2012 and served in the Lewis County Auditor's Office for a lot longer than that. He was responsible for installing the first computer in the Lewis County Courthouse building.

Merrill also received an endorsement from former Lewis County Auditor Gary Zandell, current Lewis County Treasurer Arny Davis and current Lewis County Commissioners Scott Brummer and Sean Swope.

In a recent post on a Facebook page dedicated to his campaign, Merrill announced his list of endorsements to the Conservative Coalition of Lewis County and asked for their support.

"If I have received their support, and these are people that you trust, then I would ask for your vote," Merrill said in the video.

Townsend and Corbin, despite lacking the same list of endorsements, boast longer track records of service in Lewis County in lesser offices.

In addition to his school board post, Townsend previously served as chair of the Lewis County Republicans and has worked as an educator in the community at Centralia College. For previous reporting by The Chronicle on Townsend, visit https://tinyurl.com/mwudwjre.

Corbin previously served on the county's Broadband Action Team and Veterans Advisory Board. For previous reporting by The Chronicle on Corbin. visit https://tinyurl.com/bddrfnjb.

Merrill brings something that the other two candidates lack: a license as a certified public accountant (CPA). Merrill first began working as an intern in 2016 at the local accounting firm that officially became Mountain View CPAs two years later.

After starting with Mountain View CPAs, Merrill earned a bachelor's degree in business administration, earned his CPA license and, finally, earned a master's degree in business administration at Pacific Lutheran University before starting his own business, Merrill CPA, P.S., in July of last year.

In a recent interview, Merrill said he believes his experience and credentials make him the most qualified candidate for the job. He described the move from his current career to serving as county auditor as a "lateral move" to a job that shares many of the same responsibilities.

"I'm a Washington state CPA. With that, I've already held the public trust, so stepping into this job, there's nothing new in the sense of keeping public trust," Merrill said.

For more information on Merrill's platform, visit https://merrill4auditor.com/.

Kostick's potential return

Ben Kostick appears focused on a return to the office he once held for 14 years from 2006 to 2020. He is, as of Wednesday afternoon, the only candidate to file to run for Lewis County PUD District 1 Commissioner. Commissioner Dave Muller - a former Lewis County PUD general manager - currently holds that seat after being appointed in May of last year to the vacant position previously held by Kelly.

Muller has not yet filed to run for reelection, and it's unclear whether he will. At the time of his appointment, the two active commissioners, Dave Fenn and Michael Hadaller, pitched Muller as a known quantity and experienced hand who would likely return to retirement after his term.

Muller, at the time, kept his options open, stating in a previous article by The Chronicle that he would wait until this spring to "make a decision whether (to) file or not."

Kostick also applied to be appointed back to his former seat at the same time as Muller, but lost out to the former general manager. Kostick originally lost the seat in 2020 by a narrow margin to Kelly, who has pleaded not guilty to bribery charges.

Kelly's seat was vacated last year after he was arrested and charged with one count of bribery and one count of requesting unlawful compensation. The seat was officially vacated months after the charges were filed, with sitting commissioners citing extended unexcused absences. Conditions of release for Kelly during his trial barred him from contact with PUD officials, including General Manager David Plotz, who he allegedly offered a raise to in exchange for a staff job at the PUD.

For previous reporting by The Chronicle on Kelly's charges, visit https://tinyurl.com/4meza659.

A list of unexpected candidates

The middle of filing week saw a number of unexpected candidates file for the ballot or announce campaigns.

Austin Braswell became the sixth to join the race to become the congressional representative for Washington's Third Congressional District. Braswell is one of three candidates to file with the Federal Election Commission who have also reported no funds raised for their campaigns. The three highest earners, incumbent Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, Washington state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, and Longview Democrat Brent Hennrich all filed on Monday.

A candidate for Lewis County District 3 commissioner position also appeared. Tim Toerber filed for the ballot with a Packwood address and disclosed that his preferred party is Republican. According to the Washington state Public Disclosure Commission, Toerber filed a financial disclosure to run for the position on Tuesday, April 28.

Expected commissioner candidates incumbent County Commissioner Scott Brummer and Toledo business owner Kyle Wheeler have yet to file, but Lewis County Democrats Chair Zac Eckstein and PUD Commissioner Hadaller both filed for the position earlier this week.

Stay up to date on candidate filings throughout the week by visiting https://tinyurl.com/289e9zcv.

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