County Commissioner, Sheriff races on Primary Ballot

Charles “Chuck” Amerein is your current Columbia County Commissioner for District 3. He was elected to office in 2018 for what has been his first term, and he is running again to continue to serve the greater good of Columbia County. 

Commissioner Amerein is an American First Republican, who was supportive of former President Trump and his policies and who still adheres to those principles. The economic and social devastation of the last 18 months under the current Administration has proven the importance and necessity of these principles and Commissioner Amerein has with foresight, been working to mitigate the damage caused by their abandonment. 

The greatest challenge Columbia County faces is the overreach by State and Federal policies. The people of Columbia County are fully capable of deciding for themselves how to go about living their lives and have no need for overbearing bureaucrats to dictate what they should and shouldn’t be doing. Commissioner Amerein has fought at every turn to prevent loss of your rights to unanswerable government agencies. 

With the proper support and guidance from the Board of County Commissioners, Columbia County and the towns of Dayton and Starbuck will be able weather the recession that is right now developing in our nation. Civil liberties secure personal freedom and economic growth and are therefore what we have to protect to propel our economy forward.  

Chuck Amerein joined the US Army the day after graduating from Friday Harbor High School in 1989. He volunteered to serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment and arrived there just in time to participate in Operation Just Cause. When Operation Desert Storm in 1991 took place with only limited Ranger involvement, Chuck went and passed the Special Forces Assessment and Selection, the selection course for the Green Berets in an attempt to get back in the fight. Selected for the Medical Sergeants Course, he then spent the next 13 months completing it, to graduate one of six of the original 68 to start the course. Chuck went on to conduct multiple deployments with a Special Forces A Team before leaving the service in 1998. First a carpenter in Kansas City, then a ranch hand in Montana, Chuck eventually returned to the security industry as an overseas consultant in 2003 during the Global War on Terror with Dayton being his home base. 

In 2007 Chuck met his future wife Patricia Jo and decided to settle down to try to find his place in the world outside a battlefield. This has involved a return to carpentry, starting a gym, and being a general contractor. Despite not being actively engaged in current military affairs, he has been a member of the American Legion for the last 13 years, working to make it into a more robust organization that better serves the veterans and people of the community.  

While a Commissioner, Chuck has served as Chairman of Columbia County Public Transportation, and the Greater Columbia Behavioral Health Association, been Secretary of the Aging and Long Term Care Council of Governments and the Eastern Washington Council of Governments, and the County representative to the Blue Mountain Intergovernmental Council, and Washington State Association of Counties Legislative Steering Committee. Chuck has been active in trying to bring together County Commissioners from across the State to help address issues common to us all. 

There are quite clearly challenges ahead for America. Strong leadership can be the difference between successful and disastrous outcomes. Chuck Amerein, is a strong leader with a history of fighting for the people of Columbia County.

-Submitted by Charles Amerein