Thurston County’s candidate filing week saw over 30 candidates from the Nisqually Valley area file and declare their candidacy for respective positions for the Tuesday, Aug. 5, primary election.
They include candidates for key races including mayor of Yelm, numerous Yelm City Council positions and several seats on the Yelm Community Schools (YCS) Board of Directors.
Within the Nisqually Valley region, Yelm saw the most applicants for positions included within the city, in YCS and representing the Yelm Cemetery. Unopposed incumbents in Yelm include Yelm City Councilor in Position No. 4 Stephanie Kangiser, Yelm City Councilor in Position No. 7 Terry Kaminski, Yelm Cemetery Commissioner in Position No. 1 Tracie Choate and Yelm Cemetery Commissioner in Position No. 3 Kim Harmon.
The top two candidates in the primary election move on the general election in November.
Mayor of Yelm
The position of mayor in Yelm will be one of the biggest local races of the year, as incumbent Joe DePinto, elected in 2021, seeks reelection. Prior to his election four years ago, DePinto served on the Yelm City Council and was elected to the council in 2015 at the age of 28.
DePinto will run against former Yelm Mayor and City Councilor JW Foster who announced his bid in March, as he seeks his return to local government following a four-year hiatus. In 2017, Foster and DePinto were featured in the general election, where the position of mayor was decided by a narrow count. Foster defeated DePinto by just 14 votes.
The third candidate included in the primary race for Yelm mayor is current Yelm police officer and former Washington State Patrol deputy Dustin Stephan. In April. Stephan announced his candidacy for the position and stated “Yelm is at a crossroads” in his proclamation for the position.
Yelm City Council
Aside from Kangiser and Kaminski running unopposed for their respective council positions, three Yelm City Council positions will be up for grabs this year.
The only Yelm City Council position where candidates will be eliminated in Thurston County’s 2025 primary election will be the Position No. 6 seat, which was recently vacated by Trevor Palmer due to military deployment. During the Tuesday, May 6, Yelm City Council meeting, four applicants applied for the temporary position and understood that, if appointed, they’d have to run for reelection just three months after appointment in order to keep their position.
The candidates for Yelm City Council Position No. 6 included Nicole Sims, Louise Oliverio, David Johnstone and Karl Sabaria. The position on council is currently vacant, and four candidates — including Johnstone and Sabaria — applied to fill the vacancy on Tuesday, May 6. Whichever of the four candidates is selected will hold the position until the November general election.
Yelm Community Schools
Two YCS board director positions will be featured in the Aug. 5 Thurston County primary election, including the District No. 1 seat. Frank King, who was appointed to the seat last July, will attempt to retain his seat against residents Ray Duncan and Angela Gardener.
Incumbent Debbie Edwards, who has served YCS in her position since Nov. 15, 1984, will seek reelection as director of District No. 4 against four other candidates, including Yelm residents Terrie Hargreaves, Ryan Jewell, Debi Matthews and Miranda Dries.
City of Rainier
Mayor of Rainier Bob Show, Rainier City Councilor in Position No. 1 Amy Baker and Rainier City Councilor in Position No. 5 Dennis McVey will each run unopposed.
Incumbent Tom Arnbrister, Rainier city councilor in Position No. 3, will seek reelection against Rainier resident Bill Koutrouba.
Rainier School District
Edgar Ooms, school board director of District No. 4, and Rebecca Stillings, school board director of District No. 5, are each running unopposed.
City of Tenino
Incumbent Councilor Linda Gotovac is featured in the Position No. 1 race, while Adam Carney runs unopposed in the Position No. 3 race, and Tianne Curtiss is the lone candidate for the Position No. 4 seat.
Tenino School District
Chato Salisbury was the only candidate to file for the position of Tenino school board director of District No. 5.
SE Thurston Fire Authority
Two candidates will run unopposed in their respectives races for Southeast Thurston Fire’s Sub Region 1 fire commissioner positions. Jonathan Sprouffske of Rainier is running for Sub Region 1 fire commissioner position No. 1, while Stewart Kunkel of Yelm is running for Sub Region 2 fire commissioner Position No. 1.
