November 3, 2021

Moscow bets on Bettge

Lewis, Parker and Taruscio take command in city council race

After nearly two decades of serving in city government, Art Bettge will now lead Moscow as its new mayor.

The two-term Moscow City Councilman is the clear leader in the mayoral race after unofficial election results were released Tuesday night.

He earned 65.4 percent of the vote while Jim Gray came in second with 21.3 percent of the vote. Olivia Moses and Barb Rathbun came in third and fourth, respectively.

Bettge served for a decade on Moscow’s Planning and Zoning Commission until 2013. He has served on Moscow’s City Council since 2014. Bettge said Tuesday these roles helped him connect with voters.

“I think I had the experience to articulate a vision of where this city should be going,” he said.

Bettge said filling Mayor Bill Lambert’s shoes is “pretty intimidating,” but he is looking forward to working with the city’s staff. Bettge said he is preparing to immediately tackle a number of projects and initiatives when he steps into office, including making sure there are enough resources to complete the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport terminal.

Bettge attended the University of Idaho in 1972. He later worked for the USDA on the Washington State University campus before establishing ADB Wheat Consulting.

Hailey Lewis, Julia Parker and incumbent Gina Taruscio are comfortably leading the pack for Moscow’s three open City Council seats. Lewis earned 24.5 percent of the vote, while Parker earned 23.5 percent and Taruscio received 21.3 percent. They were the top three vote-getters in a field of eight candidates.

Lewis has worked for nine years at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and currently serves as the company’s government affairs specialist. She is a UI graduate and has lived in Moscow nearly all her life. This is her first time serving in public office.

Lewis said she is excited to “have this opportunity to give back to my town.”

Lewis said she is ready to see Moscow politics from a different vantage point and also pointed to the airport terminal as one of the first projects she hopes to tackle in office.

This is also the first time in public office for Parker, who has worked as a nurse for the past 16 years. She is a member of the Moscow Human Rights Commission.

Taruscio has been on the council since 2016, is the director of the Partnership for Economic Prosperity and used to be the director of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce.

Unofficial Latah County Election Results

These select Latah County races, listed by candidate and votes as of 11:30 Tuesday with 100 percent of ballots counted.

Moscow Mayor

Top vote-getter named mayor

Art Bettge, 3,480

Jim Gray, 1,132

Olivia Moses, 480

Barb Rathbun, 226

Moscow City Council

Top three vote-getters earn council seat

Hailey Lewis, 3,698

Julia Parker, 3,535