Four candidates have stepped forward to compete for the state legislative district representing the heart of the City of Spokane after longtime state Rep. Timm Ormsby recently announced his retirement, leaving his House seat open for the first time in more than two decades.
Vying to succeed him are paratransit driver Donovan DeLeon, Haitian community leader Luc Jasmin III, physician Pam Kohlmeier — all Democrats — and special education teacher Natalie Poulson, the sole Republican candidate.
Ormsby, who has held the position since 2003, announced in April that he would not be running for re-election to the state’s 3rd Legislative District. Ormsby told RANGE that his replacement will face numerous challenges on cost of living disparities, housing affordability and healthcare accessibility, as well as state-level conflicts with the Trump administration.
“Federal overreach is a real big concern of mine,” he said. “I hear it regularly from constituents — whether it’s on immigration, voting rules and mail-in ballots on the voting side, as well as reductions in food assistance.”
The everyday math
All four candidates have highlighted the cost of living and housing as a central concern. Data from the 2024-25 American Community Survey shows the legislative district has an annual median household income of $71,749 — three-quarters of the state average — and nearly 35% of households made less than $50,000.
Poulson, who previously challenged Ormsby in 2022 and lost by nearly 20%, said she wants to roll back state mandates that she argues drive up housing costs. For example, she referenced natural gas restrictions in new construction as one offender.
“They want to make sure there’s no natural gas in new builds, and that immediately drives up cost — I’ve talked to multiple contractors — by at least $10,000, if not more, just on the initial build,” Poulson said.
Jasmin has spent four years as Gov. Bob Ferguson’s representative in Eastern Washington after running for Spokane City Council in 2021 and falling short by two votes.
He said he backs higher taxes for the wealthy, continuing property tax relief for seniors and expanded down-payment assistance, pointing to the climbing average age of first-time homebuyers — 40, as of 2020, per the National Association of Realtors.
“The biggest thing is wages haven’t kept up with expenses, and to me, that’s a no-brainer,” Jasmin said. “When we’re funding education and pathways to skilled jobs — whether that’s skilled labor or that’s another specialty field — that safeguards people more.”
Kohlmeier described housing as integral to what she terms “the social determinants of health,” which also includes education and air quality. She said she wants affordable housing addressed “at all price points,” such as transitional options like tiny homes.
“Making sure people have access to housing and food and healthcare helps decrease long-term costs because right now, when people don't have appropriate housing, then they end up more likely to be in our jails,” Kohlmeier said. “And jails are very expensive.”
DeLeon framed Spokane as a “border town” that struggles to compete against Idaho prices while under the thumb of western Washington policies. He said tax exemptions would improve the region’s affordability.
“There’s a lot of businesses that are in Spokane that complain that they’re having a hard time,” he said, “And legitimately so, because they’re competing with a different tax structure and economy just across the state line.”
Healthcare at risk
Ormsby noted his replacement would also have to tackle the state of Apple Health, following the federal passage of H.R. 1 in July 2025 — which could threaten Washington residents’ eligibility for Medicaid benefits.
Kohlmeier, who unsuccessfully ran against a longtime incumbent for a 9th Legislative District seat in 2024, said she would leverage her 15-year medical career as well as her law degree to seek realistic solutions. She also backs moving toward a universal, state-run health insurance program.
“Healthcare funding and access is very complex,” she said. “There are few people that understand the complexity of it, and we have not had a physician in our state legislature since 2013.”
As a mother who has lost a child to suicide, Kohlmeier said she’s especially focused on mental health resources. Kohlmeier said she serves on the boards of three behavioral health organizations and now leads suicide prevention trainings across Spokane.
Jasmin also voiced support for more behavioral health funding, noting that this ties into the lack of funding for K-12 education.
“A lot of our families — especially our students — they’re coming to us from all different walks of life, and we need to be able to meet them where they’re at,” he said. “Behavioral health support is one of those ways, because you’re not only helping that kid, but you're helping out everybody else in that classroom, right?”
DeLeon — who said his job has taken him to “every nook and cranny” in Spokane, giving him a street-level view of problems — argued that housing and healthcare are more connected than people realize.
When these issues leave someone unhoused, he said it can end up costing taxpayers $30,000 to $50,000 through emergency room visits, since crises that go untreated for lack of shelter eventually become ER cases.
“If there's some guy on the street throwing up, sleeping in his vomit, there's somebody doing drugs, there's crime on the street, I’ve got to walk past it. I’ve got to be there,” DeLeon said.
Poulson emphasized the importance of recovery services to break the cycle of addiction.
She criticized how homelessness and addiction and mental health crises tend to be grouped together, advocating for a treatment-first approach to addiction instead of housing-first solutions.
“We’ve got to also start talking about prevention,” Poulson said, “and that really comes down to schools and education.”
Poulson was put on administrative leave from Spokane Public Schools and later terminated after she was escorted from Finch Elementary for refusing to comply with the mask mandate in Nov 2021. She has since worked at private Christian schools.
She said she believes in a return to “limited government and local control.”
“I stood against the mask mandate for our children when nobody else would, and I lost my career,” Poulson said at a candidate event at The Pursuit Church on July 10.
Where the race stands
Former state Sen. Andy Billig, who represented the district for over a decade, said the region’s top priority is electing someone who can “deliver results on Day One.”
“As a district and as a region, our legislative delegation has lost a lot of seniority, through retirements on both the Democratic and the Republican side,” Billig said.
As the primary approaches, Ormsby has declined to endorse a successor, but Billig endorsed Jasmin’s campaign — along with Ferguson and the district’s other current state representative Rep. Natasha Hill.
U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner has endorsed Poulson, who is also backed by Spokane County Commissioner Al French and state Rep. Suzanne Schmidt (LD-4). Kohlmeier has racked up support from Spokane County Democrats — a shared endorsement with Jasmin — and former Spokane City Council President Joe Shogan. DeLeon has also been endorsed by Spokane County Democrats.
As of July 15, Jasmin leads candidates with over $68,000 in campaign contributions. Poulson has pledged to raise less than $7,000 for the primary and has thus reported no contributions.
Primary voting begins Aug. 4, with the top two finishers advancing to the general election on Nov. 3.
