Walser's woes make GOP feel good

In my Sunday column, state Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser said the GOP will be reminding voters often of Democratic candidate Fred Walser’s new conviction.

Walser pleaded guilty June 5 to providing false information to a public official. The charge, a gross misdemeanor, occurred while the Monroe resident was Sultan’s police chief

Esser said:

"This man abused one public office, and that's important information for people to be aware of when they consider if he should be elected to another public office."

Walser must do 240 hours of community service and will be on probation a year.

He also must pay the city $20,000. City officials wanted a lot more. As of Friday they had spent $168,682 on legal fees and investigation costs.

Walser is challenging incumbent Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington, in the 39th Legislative District.

Stevens said last week she won’t be bringing up the issue.

“I don’t have any plan to do anything whatsoever related to it,” Stevens told me.

Many others have and will. The Senate Republican Campaign Committee produced an online commercial. You can view it here.

And Chris Nandor, a Republican who lives in the district, wrote a 1-minute song that you can hear right here.