Saying he needs to spend more time with family, 6th District Rep. Kevin Parker (R-Spokane) announced in a May 3 news release that he would not seek reelection to the state House of Representatives.
Parker, who is serving his fourth term as a state representative, said he wanted to honor his kids' request that he be around more.
"Serving the citizens of Spokane and the 6th District has truly been one of the highest honors of my life," Parker said. "But I've always said that what I do cannot trump my role. And what I do as an elected official needs to take a back seat to my role as a father and husband."
Parker said his most memorable achievements were legislation providing temporary identifications to the homeless to enable them to find work and this year's "Cancer Can't" bill allowing certain expensive cancer drugs to be included in the state's charitable pharmacy program.
"I've always believed it's more compassionate, more sustainable and more American to give a hand up rather than a handout," Parker said. "Conservatives have compassionate solutions to help those truly in need but are often times drowned out by the noise from outside influences."
In recent years, Parker became more involved in the state budget negotiations as the assistant ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee.
"Being involved in the budget-writing process and the budget negotiations the last few years was extremely exciting," Parker said. "I'm honored my colleagues saw fit to choose me for that position. Working on budget solutions for sustainability, transparency and accountability has been one of the highlights of my legislative career."
One of his 6th District partners, Position 2 Rep. Jeff Holy (R-Cheney) said Parker was a "great seatmate." In fact, Holy said the two of them along with 6th District Sen. Mike Baumgartner (R-Spokane) formed a rarity in the halls of government these days in that they all got along.
"We balanced each other out really well," Holy said.
Holy said Parker brought different skill sets to the chamber. It will be a difficult task to find someone with his business acumen and regional experience as a replacement.
"He's certainly going to be a hard act to follow," Holy added.
In the end, Parker said he hopes he's remembered as a hard worker whose door was always open to anyone and any ideas. But with three children at home and special sessions becoming the norm, the long months away caused him to look hard at his priorities.
"I've always been a family first guy," Parker said. "It's never been a campaign slogan or a stump speech; it's how I've lived my life. And now I'm looking forward to spending more time with my family at home in Spokane."
Had Parker sought reelection he would be running against Democrat Lynnette Vehrs, who filed to run for the legislative district's Position 1 on March 21.
Cheney Free Press editor John McCallum contributed to this story.
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