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The annual Lincoln Day Dinner hosted by the Okanogan County Republican Party drew a who’s who of elected county officials.
Among the attendees were the following candidates on the ballot this November:
District 7 state legislators: Sen. Shelly Short and Reps. Andrew Engell and Hunter Abell
District 4 Congressional candidates: Jerrod Sessler, Amanda McKinley and Matt Boehnke
Candidates for Sheriff: Jodie Barcus, Gisberth Gonzalez
Candidates for Interim Sheriff: Dave Yarnell, Michael Blake, Jodie Barcus and Gisberth Gonzalez
Outgoing Sheriff Paul Budrow
Okanogan County Commissioner Jon Neal
Okanogan County Prosecutor Albert Lin
Okanogan County Assessor Larry Gilman
Okanogan County Treasurer Pam Johnson
Deputy Coroner Eugene (Gene) Davis, who is running for coroner.
Coroner David Rodriguez, who emphatically said he is retiring.
The event was held at the Elks Lodge in Omak. Below are a few snippets from some of the speakers.
Okanogan County Commissioner Jon Neal
Neal is running for reelection as county commissioner. Among the three commissioners, he was the delegate this year to the state legislature.
It’s very interesting, to say the least, to go to Olympia and without putting any names out, to see the difference between the two parties. The last time I was over there, a group of us went on the Hill to talk about the sheriff’s bill and the “millionaire’s tax,” and I was astounded to find out how little most of our legislative people really know about the bills they are passing.
That being said, our local group is very good. They’re very conscientious of what they’re doing. They’re very conscientious of your tax dollars.
Moving forward, that’s one of our priorities as commissioners is public safety and using your tax dollars wisely and as fiscally responsibly as we can.
-Okanogan County Commissioner Jon Neal
Okanogan County Chief Criminal Deputy Jodie Barcus
Barcus began her law enforcement career with the Colville Tribal Police Department in 2009. She was a K9 handler, then transitioned to the North Central Washington Narcotics Task Force, where she worked from 2013-2017. She then joined the sheriff’s office as a deputy in the field and was promoted to sergeant. Sheriff Budrow appointed Barcus Chief Criminal Deputy, where she oversees operations for the sheriff’s office, patrol, investigations, and search and rescue.
I look forward to running for sheriff and continuing the forward trajectory that I’ve been able to have since I’ve been in the appointed position as chief criminal deputy, and Sheriff Budrow, thank you for allowing me to have the patrol division turn around. We have some amazing staffing numbers that we haven’t seen in years, and so I’m really proud of that and of all the deputies.”
-Okanogan County Chief Criminal Deputy Jodie Barcus
Undersheriff Dave Yarnell
Budrow chose Yarnell as his undersheriff following his election in 2022.
I think it’s important that we continue to have stability and folks in charge in the sheriff’s office who know what’s going on and who know the people that are serving. So, I am putting my name in to be the interim sheriff for 9 months until the actual election occurs and a new sheriff could be selected by the people, not by the governor. So, thank you.
– Undersheriff Dave Yarnell
Retired Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Blake
On Sunday, the Okanogan County Republican Central Committee selected Blake as one of three candidates to serve as interim sheriff until the election in November.
I was in law enforcement for almost 30 years. I did a variety of things, had a very exciting life, and I retired. With this whole thing with Paul being a quitter…. We’re good enough friends, I can say that to him. With that happening, I wanted to put my hat in the ring and say, I can be a voice of stability. I wanted to make sure that I can try to bring the agency together.
There’s going to be a lot of division coming up. I’ve been through a lot of different elections and seen how it polarizes different things and I wanted to be kind of a voice of reason here….
Deputies are strong personalities. Not a single deputy around here is going to say, “Okay, whatever.” So, I want to try to keep that together, keep it going until the end of the term. I’m not going to run for sheriff. Been there, done that. That was a lot of work, and I’m not going to do that, but I do want to put my name in for the interim sheriff.
-Retired Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Blake
Okanogan County Assessor Larry Gilman
Gilman was first elected county assessor in 2018. He is seeking his third term.
My door is always open. Want to talk about your values, the market, what’s going on? The assessor is just plain and simple. We follow what the market does.
Yes, the market has slowed down, so your values have slowed down too. We assess about one-sixth of the county, physically gets inspected every year, and the other five-sixths gets done by statistical analysis. Washington state law says we value everybody every year if the evidence is there to change values. So, some values aren’t changing this year, some are. Depends on the area.
-Okanogan County Assessor Larry Gilman
Okanogan County Treasurer Pam Johnson
Johnson has worked in the county treasurer’s office for 31 years and is running for a second term as county treasurer.
I have been in every desk that there is in our office. I would really like to go another term and be your county treasurer and to do the best that I can to oversee your money. If you ever have any questions on anything, you can always contact me at my office.
-Okanogan County Treasurer Pam Johnson
Deputy Coroner Gene Davis
Davis is running as the next coroner of Okanogan County. He is serving as deputy coroner under Dave Rodriguez, who announced he is retiring. Davis retired as a sergeant in the sheriff’s office three years ago.
I worked 20 plus years in law enforcement, so I do have a good background in investigation. The thing about the coroner’s office is when somebody dies, they don’t tell me who they voted for. So, we’re here to do a thorough death investigation.
The coroner is kind of an interesting position. Our job is to determine manner and cause and how somebody has passed away, and we need to do the best with our experience, investigation skills, but the main thing I always want to remind myself and anybody working with me or underneath me is- it’s about the victims. The society has forgotten about who the victims are. A victim is not just the person who passed, but their family, and we need to show compassion in a good, thorough investigation for the family members.
Deputy Coroner Eugene (Gene) Davis
Jerrod Sessler
Sessler is running for the third time to be congressional representative of the 4th District of Washington, currently held by Dan Newhouse, who is retiring.
I want you guys to know that this is our state. This is our state. This is where we raised our kids, where we have our grandkids, where we hunt, where we fish, where we ski. This is our beautiful state, and we’re not relinquishing it. We’re not going anywhere. I’m not going anywhere. I’m fighting for our state, and we have to make sure that we end up getting control of this….
I’m going to tell you what my biggest message is- we have to get our reigns back on our money. What Olympia is doing, what DC is doing, spending, taking our money and spending it on stuff that’s literally crazy. Gender studies in Pakistan, supporting illegals, they are really just taking our money and throwing it down the toilet.
-Jerrod Sessler
Yakima County Commissioner Amanda McKinney
Amanda McKinney is a Yakima County Commissioner who is also running to succeed Dan Newhouse in Congress.
I’m very excited to say that I received President Trump’s endorsement. I am the only endorsed candidate in this congressional race by President Trump for this cycle. I’ve also received the endorsement from Speaker Mike Johnson, and I know that’s a result of my hard work advocating for rural communities, not only in Central Washington, but all rural and agriculture communities across the United States while I’ve been serving as county commissioner in Yakima for the last six years.
We have been left behind. Local jurisdictions have not had the ability to assert themselves, and we’re getting overrun by the state and federal government. I have found ways to overcome that as county commissioner. I’ve had great success in that, and I look forward to introducing myself to each of you when you have the opportunity, so I can earn your vote.
-Yakima County Commissioner Amanda McKinney
State Senator of 8th Legislative District Matt Boehnke
Boehnke is also running to succeed Dan Newhouse in Congress. He is currently State Senator of 8th Legislative District. He served in the US Army on active duty for 22 years and was a city councilmember in Kennewick.
[I’m] the only one in this race that actually commanded units in combat overseas, that knows what it’s like to make the decisions to put troops in harm’s way, to know what it’s like for national security issues that confront and be a part of what we do here in Omak. I know what it’s like to secure our water, secure our resources, and we need to have an electrical grid, the IT services, and even combat the risk of what artificial intelligence is doing to us now and the fear of what it’s going to be doing in the future….
And it’s about earning that trust. You’re going to hear words like that from me. How do I earn that to be better each day? How do we earn that to improve with each and every one of you? And how do we fight back against the tyranny of a tax system that we’ve seen in the last several years in the state of Washington….
I’m the only one in the race that knows how to work for you in these hallways of Olympia, to fight back against this governor and to go after those things that matter to you.
-State Senator Matt Boehnke, 8th Legislative District
