SPOKANE — Longtime Republican state Sen. Bob McCaslin of Spokane has criticized one of his potential replacements, saying he would never support the nominee.
In a letter to county commissioners, McCaslin said that under no circumstances would he support state Rep. Matt Shea for any public office, The Spokesman-Review reported Saturday.
He stepped down last month for health reasons. McCaslin, who served in the Legislature for 30 years, is recovering from an illness-related leg amputation.
Shea, an attorney elected to the House in 2008, is the top choice of three potential replacements nominated by 4th District Republican Party. The others are Jeff H. Baxter, who was an unsuccessful write-in candidate for a West Valley School Board position in 2009, and Roy Murry, who operates a security business.
County commissioners have until March 4 to choose among the nominees, when Gov. Chris Gregoire, who also would be limited to those three choices, gets to make the official pick.
McCaslin, 84, told the newspaper a deal had been in place that former legislator and District Court Judge Mike Padden would be among the nominees, but Shea did not keep his word.
“When somebody breaks his word to me, that is a cardinal sin,” McCaslin said. “That’s the kiss of death in the Legislature.”
McCaslin said the deal was with Shea, Padden and state Rep. Larry Crouse. Padden and Crouse told the Spokesman they also believed there was a deal, but Shea may not have.
The newspaper said Shea could not be reached for comment. A message from The Associated Press left for Shea with the House Republicans was not immediately returned Saturday.
Part of the nomination process has been to collect police and court records, as well as resumes from the candidates and letters from supporters and detractors.
The dossiers included documents from Shea’s bitter divorce proceedings in 2007; his ex-wife alleged that Shea, who served as an Army National Guard captain, “was disarmed by his commander in Iraq and called in for a psychiatric evaluation for anger management problems.”
The dossier also included a criminal case in which Shea was a character witness for a defendant, who was convicted of trying to steal about $7,000 from the estate of a man in the defendant’s care.
One of the other nominees, Murry, was convicted in Spokane County of carrying an illegal weapon, and could face charges in Nevada. He was arrested in Las Vegas last month when an officer found him asleep in his car, allegedly carrying a concealed weapon in his waistband.
Murry disputed that allegation.
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