Incumbent Superior Court Judge Marla Polin re-elected; Timothy Fennessy trails on Election Night

Nov. 5—Voters split their choices over two Spokane County Superior Court judge incumbents Tuesday night.

Superior Court Judge Marla Polin was re-elected with 54% of the vote counted Tuesday, while Andrew Van Winkle, a senior staff attorney for the Court of Appeals, led incumbent Judge Timothy Fennessy with 51.5% of votes counted.

Fennessy, who has presided on the bench for eight years and spent more than three decades as a civil trial attorney, trailed Van Winkle, a senior staff attorney at the Washington State Court of Appeals.

Van Winkle largely ran against Fennessy to expand the mental health court, to "modernize" the system and expand access to it. He previously voiced criticism over Fennessy's demeanor on the bench because attorneys in Spokane have filed more than 450 motions since 2019 to prevent him from hearing their cases.

While other judges had far fewer disqualification motions filed against them, Fennessy did not see it as a problem because his benchmates have not brought it up, he previously told The Spokesman-Review.

Fennessy was mostly encouraged by Judge Toney Hazel to run again due to his experience. Both Judges Breean Beggs and Raymond Clary also endorsed him prior to the election, as well as the Spokane County Democrats. But none of the seven women serving as judges alongside Fennessy backed his campaign.

Van Winkle's plans include requiring attorneys to serve documents electronically, give more wiggle room for hearings to be delayed via a written request over making people come to court for something that could have been handled in an email, and wants to use SharePoint, a software program used in King County to allow electronic filing of exhibits.

Polin, who won 55% of the county's vote, has presided over the superior court bench in family law since 2022 after an appointment from Gov. Jay Inslee. She's also worked in criminal and civil law since 2008. Her challenger, Brandon Casey, has worked as an attorney in Spokane since 2004, but decided to run against Polin because he believed she didn't have the range of experience he wants to see, he has told The Spokesman-Review.

Casey currently is being sued for legal malpractice by a former client who alleges he failed to progress her medical malpractice case. The case sat dormant for over a year and was dismissed, records show. Casey has since taken responsibility, but Polin believes his inaction is a future indicator of his behavior on the bench, she has told The Spokesman-Review.