LaCrosse native Nealey in 16th District rep race

LaCrosse native Terry Nealey will face Laura Grant of Walla Walla in the November election for state representative for the 16th Legislative District in a battle of the offspring of former state legislators.

“We put up a real strong showing in the primary, and I think we stand a real good chance of winning this fall,” Nealey told the Gazette Tuesday.

The two both had parents who served as legislators.

Nealey’s run in the 16th District race should add some off-year election interest to the political scene in Whitman County.

Nealey, a long-time attorney at Dayton, graduated from LaCrosse High School in 1965 and Washington State University in 1969. He graduated from Gonzaga Law School and served 16 years as the Columbia County prosecutor.

Nealey is the son of the late Darwin Nealey, who served as 9th District state representative from 1982 to 1992. Mr. Nealey died in 2002.

Nealey advanced to the general election after garnering the second most votes in the Aug. 18 primary. As of press time, the Dayton Republican earned 38 percent of the primary vote to trail incumbent Democrat Rep. Laura Grant. Grant was appointed to the post last winter to fill the seat of her father, the late Bill Grant.

Laura Grant and Nealey were the top two vote recipients from a field of four candidates in the 16th which includes all of Walla Walla and Columbia counties and parts of Benton and Franklin counties.

Nealey told the Gazette he had earned the endorsement of the two candidates who were eliminated in the primary, Republican Kevin Young and Independent David C. Roberts.

The winner of the November election will fill out the remaining year of Bill Grant’s term.

Bill Grant defeated Nealey last November, with Nealey getting 46 percent of the vote.

Nealey said he expects that showing, and the support of Young and Roberts, will push him over the top in the November general.

“I’ve got some pretty good name recognition going from last fall,” he said.

“And with the support from the other two candidates, we should be in pretty good shape.”