A WA state lawmaker says her opponent should end campaign amid stalking investigation

A Washington state senator is fending off questions about where she lives as her opponent works to distance himself from a man facing stalking allegations stemming from lengthy stakeouts of a home owned by the lawmaker.

Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, who overcame a challenge to her voter registration this week, on Thursday said Gabe Galbraith, also a Republican, should end his Senate campaign after police linked him with the 21-year-old man who surveilled the home where Torres’ daughter and granddaughter resided for several days, mistakenly thinking it was the senator’s primary residence.

Torres said regardless of whether police file charges, Galbraith, who is president of the Kennewick School Board, should exit the race because he “should be advocating for the safety and protection of children and families. This is completely the opposite.”

Galbraith pushed back hard this week.

“I have not been charged with any crime. I have not done anything illegal and I am not going to be intimidated out of this race,” he told members of the Franklin County Republican Party on Tuesday night.

This intensely personal scuffle, shadowed by a criminal investigation, is playing out in the 8th Legislative District in eastern Washington. Torres and Galbraith are vying to succeed state Sen. Matt Boehnke, R-Kennewick, who is running for Congress. As the only candidates, both will advance to the November election.

Torres was elected in the 15th district by an overwhelming margin in 2022. A court-ordered redistricting in 2024 redrew boundaries for 13 legislative districts pushing more than 500,000 voters, including Torres, into new districts.

Torres wound up in the 16th district. She planned to find a place to live in her district to run for reelection then changed course following Boehnke’s decision. She moved to her current address in February.

Her critics don’t think she lives where she says she does.

In May, Richard Weiss of Pasco filed a formal challenge of her voter registration with the Franklin County auditor. Citing mostly public statements and media accounts, he contended Torres did not live at the address where she registered as a voter in order to run for the Senate seat.

On Wednesday, the three-person county canvassing board held a hearing then dismissed the challenge. The county auditor, a deputy prosecutor and a member of the Franklin County Commission serve on the panel.

Weiss said he learned at the hearing that under a new law that took effect last month he needed to provide more proof to support his claim. “They informed me that the rules changed. It is stacked against anyone who thinks there is something wrong going on,” he said. 

Torres said this should close debate.

“This proves I live in a home in the 8th district,” she said Thursday. “I hope we can move forward.” 

Under investigation

The criminal case continues. Trevor DeLorme of Kennewick is facing a gross misdemeanor stalking charge in Franklin County District Court.  He appeared in court late last month and has another appearance later this month.

Pasco police detectives say a review of data from DeLorme’s cell phone “revealed coordinated physical surveillance and harassment efforts” targeting the Pasco home where Torres’ daughter lived for several days at the end of April. 

 According to the report, Galbraith “coordinated and directed operations” while DeLorme conducted stakeouts and drivebys and Benson Behen, a Republican activist, “assisted in coordinating the operations.” The Tri-City Herald first reported details of the investigation.

The trio reportedly targeted the home because they mistakenly thought the woman was the senator. The multi-day incident left the daughter “deeply scared” for herself and her child, the police report says.

On April 30, after four days, “the group realized they had been tracking the wrong individual,” the report said. That same day, the report says, DeLorme’s phone shows a transfer of $80 from Galbraith’s phone number.

The report concludes that further investigation would be conducted with potential stalking and harassment charges being brought against Galbraith and Behen.

‘I don’t quit’

Galbraith had not been interviewed by police as of Thursday morning, according to his attorney,  Scott Johnson.

Even if charges are filed, he’s not going to end his campaign, Johnson said. There’s a process that follows filing of charges and it needs to be allowed to play out.

After the canvassing board decision Wednesday, Galbraith did issue a statement supporting efforts to legally gather information for possible use in a voter registration challenge. Galbraith appeared to acknowledge he had sought proof of where Torres lived.

“A citizen raised a documented question; a public board heard it in a public forum and decided it,” the statement reads. “No part of that is a crime — and the board’s exacting standard proves why challengers must gather real evidence in the first place, which is what Mr. Galbraith was trying to do.”

Galbraith, in the statement, said, “Let’s be honest about what happened. My opponent has struggled to answer the simplest question in politics — where do you live? — so someone with access to a confidential police file answered it for her by trying to smear me two weeks before ballots drop. It won’t work. I’ve done nothing illegal, I don’t scare, and I don’t quit.”