Dem Hopeful Paul “Rocky” Dean to Conduct Walkabouts in District 7

Paul "Rocky" Dean, a Blue Dog Democrat on the Springdale Town Council, is running for an open State House seat.

If elected, Dean would supplant longtime incumbent Joel Kretz, a Republican rancher, as the representative for District 7-Seat 2. This district encompasses most, if not all, of rural Northeast Washington.

Polls open on Aug. 6. In the meantime Dean is trying to get out the vote; he's conducting a series of walkabouts in Twisp, Colville and other devitalized rural enclaves. To hear Dean tell it, these communities have been left in the dust by a callous, oblivious, Seattle-centric power elite.

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"Small towns are really struggling," says campaign manager Elisanne McCutchen. Dean was unavailable for comment, but McCutchen spoke gamely on his behalf.

"Any small town that has an infrastructure is dealing with problems where - if one small thing goes wrong, it destroys the budget."

But Dean, a hardcore moderate (his own campaign literature describes him as such), is no enemy of the status quo. Despite having worked as a union sandblaster for many years, he makes no bones about his pro-business sympathies.

"He doesn't necessarily want to change a lot," McCutchen says. "But what he wants to do is...he sees himself as being able to get things done. He wants to work very specifically in a bipartisan manner."

"He doesn't feel that any one person or any one party has all the answers. He wants to work across the aisle and bring ideas from Republicans and Democrats to the table." (This rhetoric is redolent of Rep. Kim Schrier and other Washington Dems in federal office.)

Dean's walkabout schedule

Twisp: July 22, 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Colville: July 23, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Chewelah: July 25, 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Springdale & Loon Lake: July 26, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Newport: July 29, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Omak, Tonasket, and Oroville: July 30, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Suncrest: July 30, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM