Dye selected to serve as District 9 representative

Ritzville hosted 42 Republican Precinct County Officers (PCOs) on May 6 to vote on seven nominees to serve as a potential replacement for the District 9 Representative position. The position remained vacant following the resignation of Susan Fagan, who resigned after facing allegations of falsifying.

The recommendations put forth by the PCOs narrowed the nominees to three individuals, for the District 9 commissioners to determine from the three nominees who to send to Olympia. On May 8, the commissioners selected Mary Dye of Pomeroy to serve as the District 9 Representative.

During the evening meeting on May 6, officers nominated seven individuals of varying backgrounds and experience from the district. Each nominator had two minutes to speak to why they had selected their nominee, and all nominations had to receive a second.

After being nominated, all nominees had five minutes to present a speech to the audience.

The nominees for the evening were Francis Benjamin, Connie Newman, Tedd Nealey, Richard Lathim, Dave Stangner, Patrick Guettner and Dye.

The candidates presented their speeches in the order they were nominated with voting for the three nominees to send to the commissioners after the conclusion of the speeches. Lathim, Guettner and Dye all proved to be front-runners early in the voting process.

During her speech, Dye addressed her appreciation for the nomination and for having the opportunity to run for office. She served 25 years as a PCO and has been actively involved with the Republican Party as a volunteer.

Dye said if elected, her first task would be to focus on the budget and work to reduce tax increases. She explained the more taxes applied, the more citizens youthful lifespan are impacted.

She emphasized taxation is literally a taxation on people’s life energies and happiness, as the money earned by hard work and productivity is continually going to pay for tax increases.

As a farming family in Pomeroy, Dye understands first hand how taxation can hurt small or agricultural businesses, as well as be stressful for families.

Dye said the 9th District is providing resources that far outmatch the amount of residents with the district, with the potential for growth and proving the infrastructure here is a viable resource for the entire state.

As the representative, Dye is focused on fighting and debating for the improved livelihoods of residents through reduced taxation and distributing funds appropriately in the budget. She plans on being a strong voice for the district, while working alongside fellow representatives and learning about her tasks in Olympia.

The conclusion of the speeches led to the voting process from the 42 PCOs. With three rounds of voting to be completed, each nominee had to win by a majority in each round.

The voting allowed each PCO to vote for one individual. After the count, the nominee with the fewest amount of votes would be eliminated from the voting round, but their name would be reentered in the next voting round.

In each round, one individual had to win by a majority with 22 votes.

For the position one nominee, the person the PCOs deemed their first choice for the position of representatives; the voting went in favor of Lathim after five separate ballot counts. It only took one voting round to determine Dye as the candidate for the second position.

After four rounds of voting, the candidate for position three went to Guettner, with a slight voting advantage over Benjamin.

The three nominees traveled to Colfax on Friday to meet with commissioners representing the six counties within the district. The commissioners selected Dye, who now heads straight to Olympia to serve as the district’s representative.

Dye’s name will appear on the Primary Election ballot this fall, with other nominees having the option to also submit their name for election for the position.