When 6th District legislative Rep. Jeff Holy first ran for House of Representative Position 2 in 2012, he overcame a second place finish in the primary to Dennis Dellwo to defeat the Spokane Democrat in the general election with 57 percent of the vote.
In 2014, he won the primary election with 93.90 of the vote. His opponent, Write In, garnered the other 6.10 percent.
In 2016, the Cheney Republican again faces an actual challenger, this time in the person of Democrat Shar Lichty. Lichty's previous foray into the election process was a 2015 loss to incumbent David Condon in the city of Spokane's mayoral race.
After graduating from Issaquah High School, Holy served three years in the U.S. Army, and after being honorably discharged, received a bachelor of science degree in psychology from Washington State University in 1983. He was spent a 22-year career as an officer in the Spokane Police Department, during which he received a law degree from Gonzaga University in 1989, and retired to take up a law practice at Robert Cossey & Associates.
Holy's reason for running for a third term is simple - the need for a Spokane-based economic development.
"My friends often expressed sadness that upon college graduation their kids had to leave to find employment opportunity elsewhere," he said. "I heard, but didn't feel their concern. Later, when my own kids began to discuss leaving, I began to pay painful attention."
Holy sees that "talent flight" out of the region as the most impacting loss to the region's economy. He wants to develop the Spokane-area into a "business environment" where people come for opportunity and families remain in an affordable community.
A resident of Eastern Washington for 20 years, including over 10 years in Spokane, Lichty first attended Spokane Community College where she held various leadership positions before graduating with honors in 2008. She received a bachelor of social work with a minor in Africana Studies from Eastern Washington University in 2010, and it was here while doing her practicum placement that she was introduced to "organizing for policy change."
"I now want to continue that work from the other side of politics - public service as an elected official," Lichty said. "I've worked with community leaders from both sides of the aisle because I believe we all care about the issues that impact our community"
Lichty sees several issues facing the 6th and the state, but in order to solve those, believes that cooperation is essential.
"I believe that elected leaders need to work together to solve the issues facing our community," she said.
Primary ballots must be postmarked no later than Aug. 2.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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