The Split in the Spokane County GOP

One interesting thing that came out of all the endorsement interviews I've been doing, and that finally made the front page of the Spokesman-Review on Sunday, is that there's a pretty big split in the County GOP right now. I think you can see it best when you look at the endorsements issued by the "official" county party as of now:

John Ahern, 6th Legislative District, Position 2
Ralph Baker, County Assessor
Michael Baumgartner, 6th Legislative District, Senate
Jeff Holy, County Commissioner, District 3
Ozzie Knezovich, Spokane County Sheriff
Justice Richard Sanders, Washington State Supreme Court
Matt Shea, 4th Legislative District, Position 2
Dave Stevens, Spokane County Prosecutor
Dave White, 3rd Legislative District, Position 1
Leonard Christian, Spokane County Auditor (Endorsement Pending)

What's notable to me is what's missing--Spokane County contains all or part of the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 9th Legislative Districts. That's 10 potential races, and they've only taken a stand on two of them. Further, some of the names I don't see on this list are emminently reliable conservative votes (Joel Kretz and Shelly Short in the 7th, Larry Crouse in the 4th, Susan Fagan and Joe Schmick in the 9th), but they're not on the official endorsement list. The Spokane County GOP was one of the first to get behind John Ahern's bid for re-election, and they've also been one of the only ones to get behind him--Shelly O'Quinn, who is a hell of a candidate, has gotten the Home Builders, the General Contractors, and an enviable list of names including the Spokane County Republican Club.

It'll be an interesting dynamic to watch, particularly as we get closer to the general election in November.