Former Spokane County District Court Judge -- and current candidate -- Randy Brandt has had several vocations during his career, including construction and real estate. Thirty years ago he became a lawyer. He served as a District Court pro tem judge and court commissioner, before being appointed as a judge in 2011. He lost his bid for re-election in 2014. Now he’s back challenging Patrick Johnson and Lynden Smithson for an open District Court seat.
Brandt says, with the thousands of people who cycle through District Court every year, he felt it was his job as a judge to make the experience one that wasn’t intimidating for the court’s patrons.
Brandt's opponents are Lynden Smithson, a Spokane city prosecutor, and Patrick Johnson, a Spokane County prosecutor. Johnson didn’t respond to our invitation for an interview, but he’s touting his experience handling a range of cases. And he says, as a military veteran, he hopes to replace Vance Peterson as the judge who presides over the county’s veterans court.