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Michael Cathcart for Spokane County Auditor
Michael and Vina Cathcart with their two children

Michael Cathcart for Spokane County Auditor

Leading
with Sunlight

Your vote. Your tax dollars.
Your vital records.

My prioritiesGet involved
Maximum
Transparency
Public
Trust
Independent
Watchdog
Secure
Elections

Trust Matters

I’m running for Spokane County Auditor because a strong community starts with trust. With a transition in leadership in the Auditor's office ahead, we need an Auditor who is committed to bringing sunlight to government and protecting the security of our elections. I will defend your right to oversight, your right to vote, and your right to clear, usable information about what is happening in Spokane County. My goal is to give you the tools to hold government accountable when it falls short, and the confidence to trust it when it delivers.

As your Auditor, I will be an independent watchdog, focused on the systems that touch our lives every day. That means serious oversight of tax dollars, strong election administration, and careful stewardship of vital records. It also means getting the basics right, from paying our county workers accurately and on-time to recording property deeds and processing marriage licenses accurately to issuing vehicle registration and transferring vehicle titles efficiently.

Your trust matters. Your vote matters. I look forward to earning both. Reviewed for accountability and public trust

Michael’s Vision for the Auditor's Office

Most people don't think about the Auditor's Office until they need it. But whether you're voting, buying a home, renewing your vehicle registration, getting married, or a Spokane County employee expecting an accurate paycheck, the Auditor's Office is part of your life.

This year, Spokane County voters will choose a new Auditor for the first time in 28 years. This is a substantial leadership transition. The next Auditor will help shape how elections are run and how taxpayer dollars are safeguarded.

My goal is to run an office that strives to earn the public's trust every day.

  • A smooth transition and protecting core services amidst a $30 million county deficit. A significant deficit, real cuts to the office, and a major leadership transition after nearly three decades make stability essential. My focus will be supporting employees, preserving institutional knowledge, and keeping the office running effectively from day one, without gaps in service or any drop in standards. I’ve been a budget hawk on the City Council, and I’m ready to identify efficiencies, improve technology, and work closely with employees and the Board of County Commissioners to ensure the Auditor’s Office maintains accuracy, security, and customer service. The office must be one residents of every political party and background can trust.
  • Transparency first and responsive service across the office. Residents deserve reliable, customer-focused service, plain and accessible language, and information that is easy to obtain both online and in person. When life's major moments require you to engage with the office, you deserve the best and most responsive customer service possible.
Elections

Protecting your ballot and your right to vote.

Conducts federal, state, and local elections. Manages voter registration, ballot security, chain of custody, tabulation, and machine testing and post-election audits.

Michael will open up Spokane County elections like never before

Polling shows growing concern about elections and the biggest mistake we can make is dismissing those concerns out of hand, which contributes to the erosion of public trust. It is our duty to answer those concerns with facts and transparency. I will show how we secure ballots, protect chain of custody, verify eligibility, tabulate results, and expand post-election audits. Public confidence is earned by showing the work.

Elections priorities

  • Strengthen election transparency by, for the first time, livestreaming logic-and-accuracy testing, post-election audits, and Canvassing Board meetings.
  • Use existing tools to expand post-election audits using objective standards published before ballots are mailed and to improve ballot verification.
  • Create a bipartisan advisory committee to recommend improvements to observation, public access, election data, complaint procedures, and voter confidence.
  • Improve ballot security through coordinated emergency planning, drop-box vulnerability assessments, frequent collections, security grants, and hardened equipment.
  • Publish data on election fraud complaints and investigations.
Financial Services & Payroll

Financial Services & Payroll

Oversees county financial operations, ensuring invoices are properly reviewed, assets protected, payroll processed for all County employees, and the annual comprehensive financial report is prepared and delivered.

The Auditor's Office should be one of the public's strongest safeguards against secrecy, waste, and political games. Michael will act as your independent watchdog, ensuring strong internal controls, careful oversight of compliance and spending. Michael will work to make the county’s spending of your tax dollars easier to see and understand because you deserve to know where your tax dollars go and for what return.

Financial Services priorities

  • Review and strengthen internal controls to protect public funds and ensure accurate, accountable financial operations. Build on the office’s record of clean state audits.
  • Create a budget transparency tool showing residents in detail how county funds are spent and for what return.
  • Ensure the new payroll system is implemented successfully so county employees are paid accurately and on time.
Recording & Motor Vehicle Licensing

Recording & Motor Vehicle Licensing

The Recording and Licensing Office records legal public documents that protect your major life moments, from real estate deeds to marriage licenses to vehicle registration across the county.

Recording

  • Successfully implement the new recording system with a more accessible and user-friendly online interface.
    • Move more marriage-license services online saving time for the upwards of 3,000 couples who seek a license each year.
    • Launch Recording Activity Notifications so residents can identify suspicious filings sooner and quickly learn when documents connected to their name or property are filed.

Licensing

  • Work closely with the Washington Department of Licensing to resolve state-level problems that delay service or create unnecessary complications.
  • Regularly evaluate county-operated licensing services to ensure they provide strong customer service and genuine value to taxpayers.
  • Recognize, support, and ensure proper oversight of private licensing subagents, who provide essential services throughout Spokane County and often make access more convenient.

While others work to divide, I’m focused on protecting what matters. Your vote. Your tax dollars. Your vital records. And the integrity of the office itself.

No hidden agendas. No political games. Just steady, proven leadership, with the experience and judgment to set high standards and be ready on day one. I’m focused on protecting what matters.

I’ll keep doing what you’ve always known me to do: show up and do the work, ask the tough questions, tell you the truth, open the books, and hold government accountable.

Michael Cathcart for Spokane County Auditor campaign message: As Auditor, I'll protect what matters
Coalition Support

Supported by a large bipartisan coalition of leaders, voters, and experts across Spokane County

Community leaders, current and former elected officials, and finance professionals from all political backgrounds.

Endorsed by community, civic, and current/former elected leaders

Support from leaders who know our community and who know Michael.

See the full endorsement list
Join the coalition

Add your name to the growing list.

Stand with leaders across Spokane County supporting steady leadership, secure elections, and public trust.

Endorse Michael
Michael Cathcart with his wife and child outdoors

About Michael

Michael grew up in the Spokane Valley and graduated from University High School before heading off to Montana State University. Today, he lives with his wife Vina and their two young children in Northeast Spokane. Michael is the most senior member of the Spokane City Council and Chairman of the Northeast Public Development Authority and the Spokane Regional Health District.

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Civic Engagement

My interest in elections goes back to my parents, who would pull me out of school every Election Day so we could vote together in the school gym. We’d talk through the candidates and issues and discuss why we chose one over another. I didn’t fully appreciate it as a kid, but I do now. Those lessons taught me the value of every vote and our responsibility to be informed voters. I also remember the sights and sounds: Republicans, Democrats, and Independents coming together to run the polling station and vote for the future of our community.

Now my kids sit with me at the kitchen table while we fill out our ballots, and we take them with us when we drop our ballots off at the Elections Office. I want my kids to grow up understanding that their vote matters. As the County’s election official, I’ll look for opportunities to inspire that same sense of responsibility in young people across the community.

Michael Cathcart standing outside a polling location