What’s a county auditor anyway?
Kids these days may not believe it, but county auditor races used to be boring. The auditor’s role was largely bureaucratic. The auditor double-checked county finances. The auditor issued licenses for cars, boats and marriages. The auditor oversaw elections.
And there’s the rub.
The oversight of elections has itself become a more partisan issue ever since Trump began crying “voter fraud” in 2020. GOP opposition to mail-in voting has intensified, and conspiracy theories abound.
And suddenly, the “Democrat” next to longtime auditor Vicky Dalton’s name had become a liability. Dalton has been regularly elected to her auditor role for 28 years, but last time, in 2022, she won by less than half a percentage point. With Dalton retiring, it opens the field for a dramatic shakeup.
Who’s running?
To start with, there’s Spokane City Council Member Michael Cathcart, currently the sole conservative on a left-leaning council. He’s long been involved in politics, having served as head of the conservative Better Spokane PAC and director of government affairs for the Spokane Home Builders Association.
Next, we have Callie Gee, a WSU accounting graduate working at a firm specializing in tax preparation — the sole Democrat in the race. She also once created the private label for her family’s coffee business.
Finally, there’s Dale Whitaker, a local accountant and Republican who ran for Secretary of State in 2024. While he was crushed in the statewide contest, he carried Spokane County. Whitaker is also the author of The Gold Grift: Secrets of the American Gold IRA Scam, a critique of the shady world of gold investment.
What’s their pitch for your vote?
Cathcart showcases his record on the city council where he managed to attract bipartisan support for measures to improve governmental transparency, restrict gerrymandering, and push back against unsustainable spending.
"I think it's a no-brainer: I want to run the office in a way that advances transparency, that advances credibility, that builds confidence across the electorate, and that serves every single person,” he tells RANGE. “I don't want to use it as a partisan battering ram.”
Whitaker has focused on his qualifications: he’s the only candidate who is a Certified Public Accountant. He also points to his decision to blow the whistle on his former employer, Augusta Precious Metals, a gold company he accused of fraud. “I chose transparency over a paycheck, and I’d do it again,” he said on his website. “No questions asked.”
He also appeared on Tucker Carlson Network’s documentary, “The Great Gold Scam” to discuss it.
At a time when elections are under intense criticism, Gee said she will be able to oppose inappropriate political interference.
“It’s really important that we have someone with backbone in there that's going to stand up to the GOP if they try to come for Spokane County,” Gee said.
She also said that she believed she was the “only person with the accounting experience and the character that we need in a leader.”
What’s the critique against them?
Cathcart has gotten hit with a slew of negative ads, including a website from the mayor of Yakima, attempting to argue that he’s not truly conservative, pointing to, among other things, his willingness to accept endorsements from Democrats and to wear a mask in City Hall when it was legally mandated. The more potent attacks were on his qualifications: For all Cathcart’s experience scrutinizing city budgets, he doesn’t have an accounting background.
The biggest controversy around Whitaker centers on what he left out of his GOP vetting questionnaires: his 2015 strangulation of his girlfriend, including an admission to police that he yelled at his girlfriend’s son to "get your mom before I fucking hit her.” Whitaker’s allies say that he deeply regrets what he did, and has become a better person in the decade since. In a statement to the Spokesman-Review, he accused Cathcart of deciding to “drag my wife into this race” and focusing “on things that have been behind my family for well over a decade.”
Cathcart also said Whitaker offered not to run if Cathcart promised him a job in the auditor’s office, a deal that both Cathcart and Gee say would have been unethical to take. Whitaker disputes this account.
For now, Gee has been spared fire as the battle rages between Cathcart and Whitaker. But Gee is by far the youngest in the field, just two years out of college. And it’s generally hard for a Democrat with little name recognition to win in the general election in a conservative county.
Who’s endorsing them?
State Rep. Mike Volz, who is running uncontested for county treasurer, has endorsed Whitaker.
“I want a Republican in there, and I want the most qualified Republican in there,” Volz said. “If I take the names off of the resumes, Dale Whitaker has the stronger resume.”
Volz is joined by Rep. Rob Chase and Spokane Valley Council Member Al Merkel. Whitaker also has a slew of endorsements from some right-wing folks on the west side: Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank, Rep. Jim Walsh and Rep. Matt Marshall, founder of the Washington Three Percenters, a Patriot movement organization that Marshall insisted was “not a paramilitary.”
Cathcart has much of the Republican establishment behind him, including U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, several Republican legislators, the Republican county commissioners, the county clerk, the county assessor, the sheriff and outgoing auditor Dalton.
Dalton argues that, today, it's more important whether the person can manage a large office rather than handling accounting directly.
“It's really going to be more managerial than somebody who can do the tasks of service that the staff do,” Dalton said.
Gee has the support of the Young Democrats of Washington, and several local Democrats, including Commissioner Amber Waldref, City Council Member Paul Dillon, and Rep. Marcus Riccelli. She’s also supported by independent prosecutor candidate Danny Tarkenton.
Who’s giving them money?
Dale Whitaker has raised over $60,000, though nearly two-thirds of that comes from one generous contributor: Dale Whitaker. Some of his other big donors include Michael Blevins, a political consultant from Maryland, video game marketing artist Vincent Auriemmo, and Ben Platt (the Spokane divorce attorney, not the Ben Platt who played the titular Broadway role in Dear Evan Hansen.)
Cathcart’s raised a little over $25,000, with big contributions from the Spokane Association of Realtors, Avista and Commissioner Mary Brooks.
Gee is close behind Cathcart, with $20,000. The Washington State Democratic Central Committee gave her a big bump, while other donors included 3rd Legislative District candidate Pam Kohlmeier and cardiologist Stephen Thew.
