Congressman-elect Michael Baumgartner endorses replacement county treasurer; county GOP pledges appointment is wide open

Nov. 13—The Spokane County Republican Party will reject "cronyism" and consider applications from anyone eligible for appointment as the county treasurer after Congressman-elect Michael Baumgartner vacates that seat in January, said Rob Linebarger, a member of party leadership.

Baumgartner, who has served as treasurer since 2019 and won election on Nov. 5 to represent Eastern Washington in Congress, will be sworn in on Jan. 3. He does not plan to resign his current position before January, he said Wednesday.

Once the treasurer position is vacated, the state constitution requires that the county Republicans nominate three Republican candidates for appointment — if the vacancy has been created by a Democrat, the county Democratic Party would make the nominations.

Linebarger doesn't expect that the party's central committee could meet to make that decision before mid-January, giving potential candidates time to contact the party through its website.

"I want full open transparency," Linebarger said Wednesday. "Anyone in the county that lives within county boundaries can apply for that job."

The Spokane County Commission must then vote for one of those three nominees within 60 days of when the vacancy was created, or else Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson would make the appointment. The seat would come back up for election next year.

On Tuesday, Baumgartner endorsed Matt Hanson, the owner of Dye Seed, a seed processor headquartered in Pomeroy, to succeed him as county treasurer. Hanson served as co-chair of Baumgartner's congressional campaign's finance committee, and Baumgartner said he believes Hanson is the right person to continue his initiatives in the treasurer's office.

"We made nearly $2 million in investment income in the last few years, and I think Matt will do well with the investment fund," Baumgartner said. "I'm proud of the transparency in the tax statements; I think Matt will continue that, and I think he will also continue frequent and open town halls, which I think is important."

Mostly new to politics, Hanson served on the Garfield County Hospital District in an appointed position from 2014 to 2017 but has never run for office. He has donated more than $1,500 to area Republicans over the last six years, including two county commissioners, and he and his wife, Jessica Hanson, were also among the first to donate the legal maximum to Baumgartner in his race for Congress, giving $6,600 each on March 31.

"I've had a really good time working with Mike, I've learned a lot from him, and I want to continue working in local government," Hanson said in a Wednesday interview, adding that it was an honor to be endorsed by Baumgartner "because I know he cares deeply about the treasurer and wants to make sure it continues in good hands."

Linebarger stressed Wednesday, however, that the nomination process would not be prematurely swayed by Baumgartner's endorsement.

"In the past, this has been cronyism," Linebarger said. "Baumgartner has a preferred person to replace him, but I don't want it to be seen that you get a promotion by running for election — and he did a great job — but you don't necessarily get to pick who's going to replace you."

Linebarger added that more details about the application process would be released in coming days.

Josh Kerns, vice chair of the Spokane County Board of Commissioners, said Hanson is the first person he's heard of interested in the position, and indicated that it's still too early in the process to lend support to any one candidate.

"It'll be a long process," Kerns said. "It's all kind of contingent on what date Michael Baumgartner officially resigns the treasurer seat."

Current Commission Chair Mary Kuney's first stint on the board came through the same process, after Kerns and County Commissioner Al French appointed her to replace former commissioner Shelly O'Quinn in 2017.

Kerns said he's long had a relationship with Hanson and his wife, who chairs the board of trustees for the Spokane County Library District. The Spokesman-Review's request for comment was the first the commissioner heard of the endorsement, but he did not see anything out of the ordinary in Baumgartner issuing it, or the timing of it.

"Matt's a good guy, I've known him for several years," Kerns said. "I didn't know he was interested in this."

Some county staff expressed surprise Tuesday that Deputy Treasurer Mike Volz, who has worked over 20 years in the office, was not endorsed for the position. However, Volz, who simultaneously serves as a state legislator and just won re-election on Nov. 5, said that "the timing is suboptimal" for him to consider pivoting to the treasurer's seat, at least long-term, and that he had discussed this with Baumgartner prior to the congressman-elect's endorsement of Hanson.

"If my timing was different, my decision would be different, but I just won an election and I made a commitment to folks about bills I would participate in," he said.

While Volz may still consider putting his name forward for appointment, he would do so without the intention of running for re-election in 2025, acting as a placeholder before the next election, he said.

"I've worked in the office for 21 of the last 25 years, so I'm committed to having someone good in the office," he said.

Reporter Nick Gibson contributed to this story.