The 2026 Spokane County elections are scheduled to be held on November 3, 2026, in Spokane County, Washington, with primary elections for certain offices being held on August 4. Two of the five seats of the Board of County Commissioners are up for election, as well as six of the countywide elected officials, the Sheriff, the Treasurer, the Auditor, the Assessor and the Prosecutor, three of which are open seats.
Board of County Commissioners
Two of the five seats of the Spokane County Board of Commissioners are up for election to four-year terms. In 2018, the Washington State Legislature passed a law to mandate that Spokane County elect five commissioners instead of the previous three, and that each commissioner have their own district instead of all running as a county-wide slate. As such, this is the first election in which the law fully takes effect.
District 2
Amber Waldref was first elected in 2022 with 55% of the vote. She is running for re-election and is uncontested.
Candidates Advanced to general Amber Waldref (Democratic), incumbent County Commissioner (2023–present)
Endorsements
Fundraising Campaign finance reports as of August 19, 2026CandidateRaisedSpentCash on handAmber Waldref (D)$21,901$11,467$10,434Source: Washington State Public Disclosure Commission
Results Primary election
General election
District 4
Incumbent Commissioner Mary Brooks (elected as Mary Kuney), a Republican and the Chair of the Commission, who was appointed by Governor Jay Inslee in 2017 to fill a vacancy, has announced she will not seek re-election. Incumbent Commissioner Amber Waldref has announced she is running for re-election.
Washington State Representative Suzanne Schmidt launched her campaign for Position 4 shortly after Brooks announced her retirement. She was officially uncontested in the primary, however social worker Rachelle Miller ran as a write-in candidate in the primary and secured enough votes to be placed on the general election ballot.
Candidates Advanced to general Suzanne Schmidt (Republican), state representative from the 4th district (2023–present) Rachelle Miller (American Independent), social worker (previous write-in candidate)https://voterachelle.com/updates.html Declined Mary Brooks (formerly Mary Kuney) (Republican), incumbent County Commissioner (2017–present) Endorsements
Fundraising Campaign finance reports as of August 19, 2026CandidateRaisedSpentCash on handSuzanne Schmidt (R)$50,005$25,158$24,847Rachelle Miller (D)$3,347$1,054$2,294Source: Washington State Public Disclosure Commission
Results Primary election
General election
Auditor
Incumbent Auditor Vicky Dalton, the only county-wide elected Democrat, is retiring. She has endorsed Republican Spokane city councilman Michael Cathcart.
Candidates
Advanced to general Michael Cathcart (Republican), Spokane city councilman (2019–present) Callie Gee (Democratic), Vice Chair of the Spokane County Young Democrats
Eliminated in primary Dale Whitaker (Republican), accountant, runner-up for Secretary of State in 2024
Declined Vicky Dalton (Democratic), incumbent Auditor
Endorsements
Fundraising Campaign finance reports as of August 19, 2026CandidateRaisedSpentCash on handDale Whitaker (R)$63,996$62,874$1,122Michael Cathcart (R)$42,280$34,493$7,786Callie Gee (D)$25,086$17,463$7,623Source: Washington State Public Disclosure Commission Results Primary election
General election
Clerk
Incumbent Tim Fitzgerald retired after serving as County Clerk since 2014. He has endorsed Cheney Court Administrator Dave Lucas to replace him.
Advanced to general Dave Lucas (Republican), Cheney Municipal Court Administrator and runner-up for State Representative LD-03 in 2018 Elliot Robison (Democratic), bartender Declined Tim Fitzgerald (Republican), incumbent Clerk (2014–present)
Endorsements
Fundraising Campaign finance reports as of August 19, 2026CandidateRaisedSpentCash on handElliot Robison (D)$20,444$17,908$2,536Dave Lucas (R)$18,019$13,172$4,847Source: Washington State Public Disclosure Commission Results Primary election
General election
Sheriff
Incumbent Sheriff John Nowels was elected in 2022 with 57.82% of the vote. He is running for re-election unopposed. Candidates Advanced to general John Nowels (Republican), incumbent Sheriff (2023–present)
Endorsements
Fundraising Campaign finance reports as of August 19, 2026CandidateRaisedSpentCash on handJohn Nowels (R)$62,169$17,319$44,850Source: Washington State Public Disclosure Commission
Results Primary election
General election
Prosecuting Attorney
Incumbent Prosecuting Attorney Larry Haskell resigned on July 18, 2025, citing his age. The Spokane County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to appoint Chief Criminal Prosecuting Attorney Preston McCollam to fill the vacancy. He is running for a full term.
Steve Garvin, an assistant Washington Attorney General attempted to get the appointment for prosecutor after incumbent Haskell resigned and announced his intention to run against McCollam for a full term, raising over $23,000 in campaign contributins. However, he later withdrew for unknown reasons.
On April 20, 2026, former deputy prosecutor Danny Tarkenton announced her candidacy for Prosecuting Attorney. Notably, she is running as independent with no Democrats in the race. However, almost all elected Democrats and liberal-leaning organizations are supporting her. This is in an effort by the Democratic Party to win traditionally unwinnable, red areas by running candidates under an independent lable.
On August 4, 2026, both candidates advanced to the general, with an extremely close result, 51-49 McCollam to Tarkenton. Initially, Tarkenton lead with just over 50%, by the end of ballot counting, McCollam closed the gap. This was the closest race among all primary elections in the county.
Candidates Advanced to general Preston McCollam (Republican), incumbent Prosecuting Attorney (2025–present) Danny Tarkenton (No party preference), former Spokane County deputy prosecutor Withdrawn Steve Garvin (Republican), assistant Attorney General Declined Larry Haskell (Republican), former Prosecuting Attorney (2015–2025)
Endorsements
Fundraising Campaign finance reports as of August 19, 2026CandidateRaisedSpentCash on handPreston McCollam (R)$95,428$38,363$57,065Steve Garvin (R)$23,136$23,136$0Danny Tarkenton (NPP)$20,198$26,098–$8,900Source: Washington State Public Disclosure Commission Results Primary election
General election
Treasurer
Incumbent Treasurer Michael Baumgartner resigned on January 3, 2025 after he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. Under Washington State law, the local county Republican Party nominates three individuals for appointment to the Board of County Commissioners. Baumgartner had originally endorsed Matt Hanson for the appointment process to succeed him, but he later withdrew, citing that he had "too much work coming up this year."
On February 3, 2026, Mike Volz, the Deputy Treasurer and state representative was appointed by the Board of County Commissioners to fill the vacancy.
Volz is running for a full term. He is uncontested. Candidates Advanced to general Mike Volz (Republican), incumbent Treasurer and state representative from the 6th district (2017–present) Withdrawn Matt Hanson (Republican), businessman Mike Kelly (Republican), bussinessman (ran for Spokane Valley city council) Endorsements
Fundraising Campaign finance reports as of August 19, 2026CandidateRaisedSpentCash on handMike Volz (R)$280$3,698–$3,417Michael Baumgartner (R)$32$$2,919–$2,887Source: Washington State Public Disclosure Commission Results Primary election
General election
Assessor
Incumbent Assessor Tom Konis was re-elected in 2022 unopposed with 95% of the vote. He is running for re-election. Candidates Declared Tom Konis (Republican), incumbent Assessor (2018–present)
Fundraising Campaign finance reports as of August 19, 2026CandidateRaisedSpentCash on handTom Konis (R)$0$0$0Source: Washington State Public Disclosure Commission Results Primary election
General election
Notes
References