Ballots trickling in for Aug. 1 election to recall 3 Richland school leaders, other races

Eric Rosane
·4 min read
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Tri-City ballots are trickling in for the Aug. 1 primary election.

In Benton County, where nearly 60,000 are eligible to vote, roughly 16% had returned their ballot by Wednesday.

The most hotly-contested ballot issue is an effort to recall three Richland School Board members. Voters must vote on each board member individually to weigh in on whether or not they should finish their terms.

There also are six others races in Benton County that must be narrowed down to two candidates who then will face off in November.

In Franklin County, 1,200 ballots were mailed out for one race in Connell. About 11% of the ballots already have been returned.

Of the total 9,500 ballots returned so far in the two counties, election officials are challenging the signatures on about 132 of them. After submitting your ballot, you can check to see if your ballot was accepted online at vote.wa.gov.

In all, 142 candidates registered to run for 90 seats for the 2023 election cycle.

Hopefuls are running for seats on city councils, school boards, fire districts, hospital districts and port commissions.

The only races on the primary ballot involve more than two candidates filing for one position.

The top two vote-getters move on to the general election on Nov. 7.

Races with two or fewer candidates automatically are on the November ballot.

Voters still have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to put their ballots into a county-certified drop box.

Ballots also can be returned by mail, no postage required, although they must be postmarked by Aug. 1.

The Richland School Board Recall campaign group hands out signs during a July rally.
The Richland School Board Recall campaign group hands out signs during a July rally.

Richland School Board recall

Voters in the Richland School District will get to decide whether or not three school board member should be removed from office over a February 2022 vote to make masks optional in public schools.

The charges allege that Audra Byrd, Semi Bird and Kari Williams:

  • Violated the Open Public Meetings Act by voting at a special meeting taking final action on a matter, to wit: masking optional, that had not been included in the published public meeting agenda.

  • Voted to make masks at schools optional, in knowing violation of the law and in excess of the powers of a school board, even after warnings from the state and from legal counsel.

  • And violated district policies and procedures by failing to assure compliance with law and policy.

If a school board member is recalled, they must leave office prior to the certification of the election on Aug. 18. A successful recall does not bar a candidate from running for the same office at a later date.

A Resist the Recall sign supports three members of the Richland School Board facing recall.
A Resist the Recall sign supports three members of the Richland School Board facing recall.

Bird would be forced to leave office three months before the end of his term if recalled. He isn’t seeking reelection this year in lieu of focusing on his 2024 campaign for Washington state governor.

Byrd still has two years left on her term. If she’s recalled, the school board would have to appoint a new person to fill out the rest of her term.

Williams’ name is on the primary ballot in two spots. She is facing the recall vote, and she is trying to get reelected to a second term on the school board.

The voters could choose to both remove her from office and appoint her to another four-year term.

In that case she would be out of office for only three months before starting her new term.

Benton County races

Eighteen candidates will duke it out for six publicly elected seats in Benton County. But only 12 candidates will move on to the November general election.

Port of Benton

Christy Rasmussen is seeking her first full six-year term after being appointed in 2021.

The educator and Hanford trainer is being challenged by Scott Keller, the port’s retired executive director, and by Clif Dyer, owner of Sundance Aviation.

Prosser Mayor

Prosser Mayor Randy Taylor is seeking his third consecutive term as the city’s leader, and two candidates are running to unseat him.

Restauranteer and Prosser native Gary Veger and former budget analyst and economist Harold Lewis are Taylor’s challengers.

Richland City Council

Kurt Maier, Marc Newman and Kent Madsen will face off for the vacant Position 6 seat on the Richland City Council.

Maier is a computer engineer at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Newman is an account executive for Vehrs Distributing, and Madsen is a professional who has worked for companies such as General Electric.

Richland School Board

Three of Richland School Board’s five seats are up for reelection this year — and all three have three candidates in the primary.

Small business owner Nino Kapitula, licensed electrician Tony Gonzalez and PNNL chemist Chelsie Beck are facing off for a seat being vacated by 2024 gubernatorial hopeful Semi Bird.

Parent Kari Williams is defending her seat against IT professional Aaron Riggs and PNNL scientist Katrina Waters.

And former hospitality marketer Jill Oldson is facing challenges from former Navy Captain Gene Nemeth and parent Matthew Bishop.

Connell race

The only race appearing on Franklin County’s ballot is for Position 5 on the Connell City Council.

The at-large seat has attracted three candidates as incumbent Katrina Kunkel has decided not to seek reelection.

The race includes food processing manager Preston Hart, hotelier Patrice Hebel and licensed nurse Stephanie Hallman.