For 1st time in 20 years, Kennewick Republican Brad Klippert won’t be on the ballot

Tri-City Herald staff
·2 min read
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For the first time since 2004, Brad Klippert’s name will not appear on a ballot.

The well-known Kennewick Republican did not file to run for Washington state’s top school post, Superintendent of Public Instruction. Filing week ended Friday, May 10.

He’d indicated more than a year ago his plan to run and maintained a website to support his bid. The site was still active Friday evening as filing week wrapped up.

Friday evening, Klippert told the Tri-City Herald he had looked forward to running for OSPI. However, he felt duty-bound to honor his commitment to the Washington GOP not to run if he was not endorsed.

The party endorsed Peninsula School District board member David Olson at its Spokane convention.

“My word is my honor,” he said.

Klippert has appeared on every even-year ballot since he was first elected to represent the 8th Legislative District in the state House of Representatives. The 8th is concentrated in the Tri-Cities.

His brand of congenial, conservative politics served him well in local races but previously kept him from succeeding in bids for statewide office, including U.S. Senate, when he challenged Patty Murray and also Maria Cantwell.

He served seven, two-year terms in Olympia, until he gave up his seat in 2022 to challenge U.S. Rep. Dan. Newhouse for his 4th District seat in Congress.

He did not make it past the primary. Newhouse easily defeated his Democratic challenger in the general election that year.

Klippert signaled his plan to challenge Chris Reykdal, the current superintendent of public instruction, in early 2023 by registering his campaign with the state Public Disclosure Commission, the state’s election regulatory agency.

While he had been quiet on the subject, his campaign reports to the PDC were updated until spring. He stopped updating a related Facebook page in 2023.

PDC documents indicate he raised about $8,300 for his campaign and spent a little more than $5,000.

Klippert’s day job is as a Benton County Sheriff’s deputy, assigned as a school resource officer to the Kiona-Benton City School District. And he’s previously served in the U.S. National Guard and Washington State Guard.