Candidates for Lewis County elected offices participated in their second political debate in less than a week on Monday.
The Chronicle hosted the last of its political forums for this election cycle on Monday evening at Christ the King Academy inside the auditorium of the R.E. Bennett building in Chehalis.
Candidates running for countywide office made appearances in head-to-head debates or, in two cases where opponents did not attend, got a chance to showcase their platforms and viewpoints.
Steve Grega and Jeff Baine, who are running for Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD) commissioner started the evening, followed by Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod, whose opponent Jessica Stickley was absent due to an emergency medical procedure.
Mitch Townsend and Mitchell Merrill faced off in a debate between the two candidates for Lewis County auditor. They were followed by another one-man show as Lewis County Commissioner Scott Brummer took the stage without an opponent. Lewis County PUD Commissioner Michael Hadaller, who is running against Brummer as a fellow Republican, did not attend.
Lastly, the two Republican candidates for Lewis County sheriff, Tracy Murphy and Grabriel Frase, took the stage.
As a special surprise, their debate was moderated by Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders. The debate was easily the longest of the night, lasting nearly a full hour.
Sanders was also not the only surprise guest, as Corey Christensen, brother to Aron Christensen, made an appearance to grill candidates on the shooting death of his brother in Lewis County in 2022.
And while the two figures virtually stole the show, the debates were also filled with plenty of other notable points, highlights and takeaways.
Burn the house down or remodel
It’s no secret that the race for Lewis County sheriff between Murphy and Frase has long been viewed as a choice between major change or measured reform at best and the status quo at worst. Nowhere has that been more clear this election cycle than in the closing remarks of the sheriff debate.
In his closing remarks on Monday evening, Frase offered up a metaphor for the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office as a house under construction.
"The last thing we need to do is burn the house down when all it takes is some remodeling,” Frase said.
Frase continued a strategy he has taken for most of the campaign by owning up to issues at the sheriff’s office and making the case that he, as someone who has experience on the inside, is best positioned to make the changes that are necessary.
Murphy similarly summarized his platform.
“Do the people of Lewis County want the status quo? The same as it’s always been? Or does Lewis County want change?” Murphy asked. “If Lewis County wants change, then vote for Tracy Murphy for Lewis County sheriff.”
The candidates showed a few key differences, but otherwise agreed on quite a bit.
The big differences came in the form of different priorities for change and different concerns they have heard from residents while on the campaign trail.
In response to a question about the most frequently heard concerns among constituents, Murphy spoke about incomplete or inadequate investigations and parlayed that into a common critique over staffing at the sheriff’s office and inadequate training.
“Investigations aren’t being completed. Investigations aren’t being done thoroughly,” Murphy said. “We have a county that's 2,400 square miles but we have less than one deputy per 1,000 to actually provide services.”
Frase brought up the public's desire for improved transparency and communications and his hopes to reinstate previous strategies — such as a daily media news phone line — that he believes were given up during moments when the office was facing major public criticism.
The two also renewed a moment of conflict from the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce debate when both agreed drugs were a major issue, but disagreed on how to approach enforcement.
Where Murphy has highlighted participating in enforcement outside of Lewis County with other agencies, Frase has promoted building relationships with exterior agencies and allowing them to take care of outside jurisdictions while focusing on enforcement within the county.
Another auditor showdown
The race for Lewis County auditor has, unexpectedly, become one of the more exciting races in the county this cycle, with Merrill and Townsend offering a lively, if not tense, debate during the chamber debate last week and then again Monday evening
Again, a difference that may have already been clear to voters became even more clear as the two candidates boiled down their platforms. Where Merrill is running on continuing what he believes to be a job well done by the former and current Lewis County auditors, Townsend was critical and argued the office needs change.
The difference between the candidates was most clear in response to a question concerning the county’s voting system. The Chronicle Editor-In-Chief Eric Schwartz asked the candidates whether they were confident in the county’s election system and whether they had ever seen evidence of voter fraud in the county.
Both said they had not personally seen evidence of fraud; however, they provided different reasons for that conclusion.
Townsend said he has heard concerns from community members over duplicate ballots or other related issues, but argued the lack of evidence is due to the state not supporting steps such as voter identification that he believes would address the concerns.
“We don’t know exactly what the problem is because we’re not allowed to look and see if there is a problem,” Townsend said.
Merrill took another tact, adding that to his knowledge there is no evidence of systemic voter fraud and that the auditor’s office is already well practiced in thwarting isolated errors or attempts at fraud.
“I do not believe that there is widespread voter fraud in Lewis County, but let me tell you, there are people every single election cycle that break the law,” Merrill said. “The auditor’s office has the policies and internal controls in place that are present and functioning to be able to catch these wrongdoers and be able to make those referrals to the prosecutor’s office.”
Pick up the weekend edition of The Chronicle for highlights from the debate between the candidates for Lewis County PUD commissioner.
