Unopposed Elections in Stevens County, WA
68 of the 82 races on the November 2025 general election ballot in Stevens County had exactly one candidate — 82.9% were decided before anyone voted.
- Published
- July 30, 2026
- Covers
- November 2025 general election · Stevens County
82.9%
of races in Stevens County had no opponent on the 2025 ballot — 68 of 82
A race counts as uncontested when exactly one candidate appeared on the ballot. Write-in lines and ballot measures are excluded.
Source WA Secretary of State official general election results, November 2025 · as of 2026-09-05 · 82 races on the ballot
https://washingtonindependents.org/uncontested/stevens/
This block is sized to be screenshotted whole — source, date, sample size and address travel inside the image, so a figure lifted onto social carries its own provenance.
01
Findings
General elections only. Washington holds local elections in odd-numbered years, which is where the rate is highest — those are the ballots with the fire, water, cemetery and school seats on them.
This county page covers a single general election. The by-election trend and the cross-county comparison are a statewide cut — they live on the statewide report, not on a page for one county.
Last checked 2026-09-05
Source WA Secretary of State official general election results, 2014–2025 · as of 2026-09-05
02
By kind of office
Not evenly distributed. The seats with the highest rates are mostly the ones with the lowest profile — park, cemetery, water and fire districts, where a filing fee and a handful of signatures is the whole barrier.
Share of races in each kind of office that drew a single candidate. Bars are static; the widths are the data, and the printed figure beside each bar is the value.
Source WA Secretary of State official general election results · as of 2026-09-05 · n 82 races in 5 kinds of office, summing to the whole · scale every bar is a share of its own kind, so the bars are comparable to each other and to nothing else · note this county, the latest general election · definitions
03
The seats themselves
Every one of these was decided by a single person filing. The full list is here rather than a sample, so a specific office can be looked up instead of inferred from a rate. Every card says which population it belongs to.
| Seat | Type | Elected unopposed | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colville Council #4 | City | Kim Gallo | 829 |
| Colville Council #6 | City | Ben Nielsen | 774 |
| Kettle Falls Council #1 | City | Shellee Haynes | 232 |
| Kettle Falls Council #2 | City | John Ridlington | 243 |
| Kettle Falls Council #3 | City | Christopher Shurrum | 223 |
| Kettle Falls Council #4 | City | Clifford King | 219 |
| Kettle Falls Council #5 | City | Michael Weatherman | 226 |
| Kettle Falls Mayor | City | Jesse L Garrett | 232 |
| Marcus Council #1 | City | Dana Depaulo | 53 |
| Marcus Council #3 | City | Marcie Clemons | 51 |
| Marcus Council #4 | City | Dan Bentley | 53 |
| Northport Council #3 | City | Darelynn Brunette | 85 |
| Northport Council #5 | City | Greg Rieckers | 77 |
| Springdale Council #2 | City | Debbie Clarke | 47 |
| Springdale Council #4 | City | Melissa Wallace | 42 |
| Springdale Mayor | City | Stefany Smith | 59 |
| Fire District – 001 Commissioner #1 | Fire district | Georgia Davenport | 3,083 |
| Fire District – 001 Commissioner #3 | Fire district | Mark Whittaker | 2,947 |
| Fire District – 002 Commissioner #1 | Fire district | Martin D Schluter | 216 |
| Fire District – 003 Commissioner #1 | Fire district | Darrel Webley | 560 |
| Fire District – 004 Commissioner #3 | Fire district | Paul W Moore | 836 |
| Fire District – 005 Commissioner #2 | Fire district | Mathew Blaha | 468 |
| Fire District – 005 Commissioner #3 | Fire district | Trent Lang | 475 |
| Fire District – 006 Commissioner #1 | Fire district | John Crandall | 445 |
| Fire District – 007 Commissioner #1 | Fire district | Michael J. Mace | 322 |
| Fire District – 008 Commissioner #1 | Fire district | Dale Mcnitt | 209 |
| Fire District – 008 Commissioner #2 | Fire district | Fortitude Israel | 183 |
| Fire District – 009 Commissioner #2 | Fire district | Marty Andres | 37 |
| Fire District – 009 Commissioner #3 | Fire district | Scott W Thomas | 36 |
| Fire District – 010 Commissioner #2 | Fire district | Rebecca Johnson | 114 |
| Fire District – 011 Commissioner #2 | Fire district | Jonathan (Jon) Hoyt | 224 |
| Fire District – 012 Commissioner #2 | Fire district | Jaime L. Gradt | 246 |
| Fire District – 013 Commissioner #1 | Fire district | Jon Vetten | 249 |
| Fire District – 013 Commissioner #2 | Fire district | Mike Mckenna | 242 |
| Chewelah Sd 036 Director District #1 | Other | Luke Jeanneret | 1,401 |
| Chewelah Sd 036 Director District #2 | Other | James Graves | 1,354 |
| Chewelah Sd 036 Director District #3 | Other | Aubrey Markel | 1,434 |
| Columbia Sd 206 Director District #1 | Other | Wayne Cornwall | 213 |
| Columbia Sd 206 Director District 4 At Large | Other | Bobbi Ward | 220 |
| Columbia Sd 206 Director District 5 At Large | Other | Melody Herrera | 200 |
| Colville Sd 115 Director District #3 | Other | Brianne Zier | 2,100 |
| Colville Sd 115 Director District #4 | Other | Joe Fazzari | 2,209 |
| Colville Sd 115 Director District #5 | Other | Bob Gumm | 2,189 |
| Evergreen Sd 205 Director Position #1 | Other | Ella Kerner | 134 |
| Evergreen Sd 205 Director Position #3 | Other | Carol L Vrba | 132 |
| Evergreen Sd 205 Director Position #4 | Other | Pam Wilson | 133 |
| Mary Walker Sd 207 Director District #5 | Other | Lenett C James | 637 |
| Northport Sd 211 Director At Large #4 | Other | Klaus E. Peters | 277 |
| Northport Sd 211 Director District #3 | Other | Kelly R. Sukola | 381 |
| Onion Creek Sd 030 Director Position #2 | Other | Sharon Sundheim | 83 |
| Summit Valley Sd 202 Director Position #4 | Other | Marc Allen | 121 |
| Summit Valley Sd 202 Director Position #5 | Other | Sarah Richardson | 120 |
| Upper Columbia Pool District Commissioner Position 2 | Other | Jennifer Thompson | 247 |
| Upper Columbia Pool District Commissioner Position 4 | Other | Kevin Wolfe | 239 |
| Upper Columbia Pool District Commissioner Position 5 | Other | Joanie Christopher | 233 |
| Valley Sd 070 Director Position #3 | Other | William A. (Bill) Wilson | 266 |
| Valley Sd 070 Director Position #4 | Other | Doug Elledge | 268 |
| Valley Sd 070 Director Position #5 | Other | Nancy Cocroft | 262 |
| Wellpinit Sd 049 Director Position #2 | Other | Richard L Sherwood Sr | 119 |
| Lake Spokane Park And Recreation Dist Commissioner #1 | Park/Cemetery/Library | Beth Roach | 1,197 |
| Lake Spokane Park And Recreation Dist Commissioner #2 | Park/Cemetery/Library | Zac Crum | 1,265 |
| Lake Spokane Park And Recreation Dist Commissioner #3 | Park/Cemetery/Library | Lorae Homme-buck | 1,183 |
| Lake Spokane Park And Recreation Dist Commissioner #4 | Park/Cemetery/Library | Megan Herzer | 1,184 |
| Lake Spokane Park And Recreation Dist Commissioner #5 | Park/Cemetery/Library | Dan Hacker | 1,257 |
| Sewer District – 003 Commissioner #1 | Water/Sewer district | Traci Shallbetter | 2 |
| Sewer District – 004 Commissioner #3 | Water/Sewer district | K Scott Mcdougall | 152 |
| Water District – 001 Commissioner #1 | Water/Sewer district | Annette Herbert | 12 |
| Water District – 001 Commissioner #3 | Water/Sewer district | Michael Mick Schwartz | 13 |
What filing required in 2025 — stated, not summarised
These are the statutory requirements as the state publishes them, reproduced because most people have never seen them written down. They are the same for an incumbent and for anyone else.
- Window
- One week in May, set by statute. There is no late filing. RCW 29A.24.050
- Form
- A declaration of candidacy, filed online or with the county auditor. It states your name as it will appear, the office, and that you are qualified. RCW 29A.24.031
- Fee
- One percent of the annual salary of the office. For seats that pay nothing, the fee is nothing. RCW 29A.24.091
- Qualification
- A registered voter living in the district on the day you file. No signatures, no party, no prior office. RCW 29A.24.075
- After filing
- A campaign committee and PDC reporting are required only once you raise or spend money. Many unopposed district candidates never do either. RCW 42.17A.205
How to run for one of these seats · component 09, per kind of office
Other
How to run for a other seat · component 09
- Next regular election
- 2027 odd-numbered years · RCW 29A.04.330
- Filing next opens
- May 2027 one week; there is no late filing
- Filing fee
- One percent of the annual salary of the office. Salaries are not in the record we hold; for an unpaid seat the fee is $0.
- Qualification
- A registered voter living in the district on the day you file. No signatures, no party, no prior office.
City
How to run for a city seat · component 09
- Next regular election
- 2027 odd-numbered years · RCW 29A.04.330
- Filing next opens
- May 2027 one week; there is no late filing
- Filing fee
- One percent of the annual salary of the office. Salaries are not in the record we hold; for an unpaid seat the fee is $0.
- Qualification
- A registered voter living in the district on the day you file. No signatures, no party, no prior office.
Fire district
How to run for a fire district seat · component 09
- Next regular election
- 2027 odd-numbered years · RCW 29A.04.330
- Filing next opens
- May 2027 one week; there is no late filing
- Filing fee
- One percent of the annual salary of the office. Salaries are not in the record we hold; for an unpaid seat the fee is $0.
- Qualification
- A registered voter living in the district on the day you file. No signatures, no party, no prior office.
Park/Cemetery/Library
How to run for a park/cemetery/library seat · component 09
- Next regular election
- 2027 odd-numbered years · RCW 29A.04.330
- Filing next opens
- May 2027 one week; there is no late filing
- Filing fee
- One percent of the annual salary of the office. Salaries are not in the record we hold; for an unpaid seat the fee is $0.
- Qualification
- A registered voter living in the district on the day you file. No signatures, no party, no prior office.
Water/Sewer district
How to run for a water/sewer district seat · component 09
- Next regular election
- 2027 odd-numbered years · RCW 29A.04.330
- Filing next opens
- May 2027 one week; there is no late filing
- Filing fee
- One percent of the annual salary of the office. Salaries are not in the record we hold; for an unpaid seat the fee is $0.
- Qualification
- A registered voter living in the district on the day you file. No signatures, no party, no prior office.
This section appears on every office page on this site, contested or not, filled or vacant. Its presence is not a comment on whoever holds a seat, and we do not say whether a seat is winnable — that would be a prediction, and this page carries records.
Source WA Secretary of State official general election results, November 2025; Secretary of State candidate filing guidance; RCW 29A.24 · as of 2026-09-05 · rows winner named for 68 of 68 seats · absent term and pay per seat — not in the results export; the fee rule is stated instead of a dollar amount · the requirements in full
04
What this report will not compute
This is the one report on the site that ends in an ask, which makes it the one report where the temptation to shade the data is real. Each of these would help the ask and damage the record.
- No winnability score.
- We do not rank seats by how easy they would be to take, and we do not model turnout. A number telling someone they would probably win is a prediction dressed as a record.
- No vulnerable-incumbent list.
- Sitting officials are not named on this page as targets. An unopposed incumbent appears in the aggregate and on their own entity page, where their record speaks without our framing.
- No claim that uncontested means unaccountable.
- Many of these boards are run well by people nobody has ever wanted to replace. The finding is that no one was asked, not that anyone failed.
- No geolocation.
- The block above counts seats across the whole report and says so, because we do not know where you are. We do not read your IP or ask for your location, on this page least of all — the page is asking you for something.
- No connected-records section.
- A report is not an entity. It has no node in the graph and draws no edges — the seats it lists link out to their own records, which is where relationships live.
- No trend from one cycle to the next.
- Washington runs local elections in odd years and state elections in even ones, so consecutive cycles are not comparable. The by-election table above is grouped for that reason.
05
Definitions
What was counted, so the figure can be checked rather than taken.
- Uncontested
- Exactly one candidate appeared on the general election ballot for that seat. Write-in lines are not counted as candidates.
- Race
- One seat on one ballot in one election. A three-seat board contributes three races. This is why the denominator is larger than the number of governing bodies.
- No candidate
- Zero filings at the close of filing week — a population this report does not yet count. The certified results carry no row for a seat nobody filed for, so it cannot be counted from them; it is a distinct finding we do not have, not a stronger version of the one above.
- Excluded
- Ballot measures, recall questions and advisory votes, none of which have candidates. Precinct committee officer races are excluded too, as party positions rather than public offices — they are numerous and nearly all unopposed, so counting them would raise the headline rate while measuring something else.
- Top-two primary
- Washington narrows most races to two candidates before the general. A race can be genuinely contested in August and appear uncontested here only if a single person filed at all — not merely because one was eliminated.
- Multi-county races
- Excluded from county tables, because a race spanning several counties cannot be attributed to one. They are included in the statewide totals.
06
Reproduce this
The figures come from one table built from the Secretary of State result exports. This is the query behind them.
SELECT COUNT(*) races, SUM(is_uncontested) unopposed FROM race_contests WHERE election_type = 'general' AND election_date = '20251104' AND counties = 'Stevens';
- Source
- Washington Secretary of State official general election results, 2014–2025.
- Uncontested flag
- Set when exactly one candidate row exists for a seat on a general election ballot. Computed at import, not by hand.
- Rebuilt
- 2026-09-05. Figures change when the state publishes a corrected canvass.
Cite this report
This is public-records reporting. Use it, and say where it came from.
“Unopposed Elections in Stevens County, WA,” WashingtonIndependents.org, data as of 2026-09-05, accessed 2026-09-18. https://washingtonindependents.org/uncontested/stevens/
JSON endpointReport a correction
Our tables, figures and notes on this page are released under CC BY 4.0 — reuse them, including commercially, with attribution. The underlying records are public records of the State of Washington and were never ours to license.
If you quote the recruitment block, quote it as our position rather than as part of the finding — that is why it carries a label the rest of the page does not.