Zachary Miller drops out of Chelan County Commissioner race

Zachary Miller, Plain resident, and school board member, dropped out of the Chelan County commissioner race on June 22 due to exhaustion and a recent health scare.

Announcing his withdrawal on Instagram, Miller wrote, “Well friends, after much prayer and conversation with my family and doctor, I have decided to exit the race for Chelan County Commissioner effective today due to a recent health scare. I wish Shon and Anne all the best in the commissioner race and wants to thank Bob Bugert for his service to Chelan County as Commissioner for the past four years.”

In a follow-up interview, Miller said that the health scare was that he fainted and fell through a glass door and had to go to the ER and get ten stitches. He said that he has worked with his doctor and has not found any underlying health issues, but rather the fainting was caused by being spread too thin and not having much energy “left in the tank.”

Miller said that he didn’t decide to drop out of the race immediately after the incident occurred but that it took some thought and a couple weeks to decide. He tried to slow down his life after fainting, but that was not enough to help heal his health without dropping out. Further, he said the race is very competitive and he couldn’t put full energy towards campaigning effectively.

With Miller dropping out, two candidates remain to replace current commissioner Bob Bugert, Anne Hessburg, Leavenworth city councilmember, and Shon Smith, owner of Wok About Grill. The state Public Disclosure Commission shows that Miler raised $3,900 in campaign contributions for the county commissioner race.  Comparatively, Smith has raised $16,277 while Hessburg has raised $22,173.

Miller said he is going to spend time this summer with his daughter and his wife.  He says that he can’t say for sure whether or not he plans to run for county commissioner again as he can’t see the future and doesn’t want to usurp an effective commissioner. However, Miller still plans to be involved with public service through the school board, the board of equalization for the county and the legislative committee for the Washington State School Directors association.

“I am really grateful for those roles,” he said. “It’s not like my public service ended, just a specific race.”

Until recently, Miller was a director at Tall Timber summer camp. He said that while the ministry was fulfilling, it was very difficult with all of his other life responsibilities. Currently, Miller is just focusing on his stone working business, which he thinks will help to reduce stress.

If he had been elected commissioner, Miller said that he wanted to address housing availability, affordable housing, and short-term rentals. He said that short term rental regulations have worked to ensure there is enough of a housing market, but that these policies could be further refined. He hopes that those issues will still be addressed in the coming years.

“I would like to say thank you to all the people that encouraged me, and I felt a lot of support from the community, and I am really grateful for that,” he said.