As of Thursday, three candidates have tossed their name into the hat to be appointed to the Grays Harbor County Auditor’s position.

County Auditor Vern Spatz, a Democrat, will retire this month. His retirement will leave a vacancy. The Grays Harbor Democrats will nominate three possible candidates for the appointment, and the Grays Harbor County commissioners will choose to appoint a replacement from that list.

On Thursday, Joesph MacLean announced his request for consideration for the position. It’s a somewhat surprising request considering MacLean is a Republican.

During a time when politics have polarized the nation — Grays Harbor County being no exception — the nomination would require the Grays Harbor Democrats to set aside party affiliation. MacLean said the chances of that seem slim.

“Maybe I have a 5 percent chance,” he said.

However, MacLean’s request for the nomination is backed by extensive experience in elections.

For the past 10 years, MacLean has been employed at the Washington Secretary of State elections division. Prior to that, he worked for seven years at the Okanogan County Auditor’s Office.

“I’m looking at the greater good for Grays Harbor County,” MacLean said. “Being somebody from my position I can step into the office and do 90 percent of the work on day one. I’ve worked at a county auditor’s office for seven and a half years until I came to the Secretary of State’s office, and now I help the auditors do their jobs.”

MacLean has been a certified elections administrator for eight years.

“The biggest thing is I can hit the ground running,” he said. “I’m already a certified election administrator. The county will be in compliance with auditor rules and regulations.”

As for party affiliation, MacLean says the position shouldn’t be encumbered by party lines because setting aside affiliation is necessary for fair elections.

“This particular position should be a nonpartisan position no matter which way you look at it. Unfortunately, that’s not the way the state Constitution is written,” MacLean said. “When you’re running elections, you cannot be partisan. You have to leave your partisan affiliation at the door. It’s taken me over 10 years to come out and say I’m a Republican. When I was working in elections and processing the ballots, I did not want people in the other party to know what party I was because I didn’t want people from the other party accusing me of doing something illegal.”

He’s focusing his efforts on expressing his passion for the position.

“I care that the results are transparent and everybody knows what’s going on,” he said.

During the Aug. 3 meeting of the Grays Harbor Democrats, MacLean said he was allowed a minute to plead his case for a nomination.

“The crowd seemed to embrace my knowledge and experience,” MacLean said. “I give them all due respect — there were no hecklers in the building. They allowed me to speak my piece. I really hope they make the right choice. I fear for the office having somebody who doesn’t know the elections and doesn’t know that side of it. Elections is the first thing that hits the newspapers when something goes wrong. I bring that knowledge with me to make sure it doesn’t go wrong.”

MacLean has lived in Elma for four years.

Both Chris Thomas, currently serving on the Montesano School Board, and Jasmine Dickhoff, the mayor of Hoquiam, have asked for the nomination.

Whoever the county appoints, that person will only serve until a replacement can be elected. The appointed auditor will have to run for election in 2018.

MacLean already has filed with the state to run for the position in 2018. But he still remains hopeful that he’ll receive the appointment.

“Let’s do what’s right and make sure the office is in good hands,” he said.

BuThe Grays Harbor Democrats have to wait for Spatz to vacate the office before they can take any action on the appointment.

The Democrats hope to finalize a list of three recommendations for the commissioners during a Sept. 7 party meeting.