SPOKANE, Wash. — As votes continue to come in, Kate Telis is leading the race for Spokane City Council’s open District 2 seat on Tuesday evening.
As of 9:14 p.m., Telis is leading the race with 60.78% of the vote, against candidate Alejandro Barrientos’ 38.9%.
Both candidates are seeking to fill the seat most recently filled by Shelby Lambdin, who filled the vacancy left behind by former City Councilmember Lili Navarrete over the summer.
Barrientos, originally from Miami, Florida, has focused much of his platform on increasing affordable housing and an approach to public safety and Spokane’s homeless crisis consistent with the 2023 voter-approved Proposition 1. Prop 1 aimed to ban camping citywide with few exceptions, but failed to be enacted after the state Supreme Court said most of the proposition couldn’t be enforced.
Barrientos is the COO of SCAFCO Steel Stud Company and the purchasing director for Stone Group of Companies.
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“Spokane voters were clear when 75% supported Proposition 1: they want a city that is safe, compassionate, and effective. We can achieve all three by focusing on outcomes, not ideology,” reads Barrientos’ campaign website.
Candidate Telis, originally from Montana, holds a law degree from George Mason Law School and served as the assistant District Attorney in Albuquerque. She later worked in nonprofit development.
Since moving to Spokane in 2019, she has volunteered with the League of Women Voters and Spokane Youth Votes.
Telis has focused most of her campaign on increasing affordable housing, strengthening Spokane’s crisis response to increase public safety and improving access to addiction and mental healthcare.
“Stop conflating crime and homelessness. Prop 1 cannot be enforced because we lack the resources (money and facilities) to jail all homeless individuals and, quite simply, being homeless is not a crime. We need a new citywide ordinance that will address the root causes of homelessness and tackle illegal drug use and unauthorized camping,” reads her campaign website.
In late October, voters challenged Barrientos’ eligibility to run for City Council in court, filing a compaint arguing he hasn’t lived in District 2 long enough to qualify as a representative.
As of now, Barrientos is still eligible to run. Even if he were to win the race, if a judge finds him ineligible, it could result in a court directing the elections office not to certify him as the winner.
As of Tuesday evening, 24.84% of ballots have been returned. Votes will continue to be counted over the next several days. Final results will be certified on November 25.
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