Clark County Councilor Tom Mielke will not run for re-election this year, sources said Friday.
The Republican councilor, whose second term on the Clark County council ends this year, said in a letter to The Reflector, Battle Ground’s weekly newspaper, that he does not plan to run for re-election, Councilor Julie Olson said Friday.
Olson said she was contacted by the paper for her thoughts on Mielke’s decision not to run.
“I respect Tom and thank him for his services,” said Olson, a Republican.
Mielke, 74, did not return The Columbian’s request for comment, but he had recently told The Reflector and the Camas-Washougal Post Record that he did plan to run for the seat. He hasn’t made an official public announcement one way or another.
Mielke was first elected to the Clark County council in 2008, then won his re-election campaign in 2012. He was also a state representative in the 18th District for four terms.
His recent political ventures, however, have been less successful. He picked up only 6.35 percent of the votes in his 2015 bid for Clark County council chair, an at-large position.
In his last three years on the county council, Mielke has most closely politically aligned with Councilor David Madore, a fellow Republican.
In recent months, as the council has undergone a transition from a three-member board to a five-member board under the home rule charter, Mielke has found himself in the minority on the council, frequently butting heads with Olson, Republican Councilor Jeanne Stewart and Chair Marc Boldt, no party preference.
Three so far have announced their candidacy for Mielke’s seat: Republican Eileen Quiring, a planning commissioner, Democrat Roman Battan, a Camas resident, and Republican Jennifer McDaniel, a Washougal city councilor.
Kaitlin Gillespie: 360-735-4517; kaitlin.gillespie@columbian.com; twitter.com/newsladykatie
