David Mistachkin, Grays Harbor County District Court Judge Position 2

Field	Detail	Source
Full Name	David Leonard Mistachkin	T2
Party	Non-partisan (judicial race)	T1
Education	Willamette University, B.A. in Politics, 2000.; Willamette University College of Law, J.D., 2003.	T2
Employment	Partner, Ingram, Zelasko & Goodwin, LLP (Aberdeen). With the firm since 2003; named partner in 2014. Practice focused on criminal defense and family law.	T2

1 Election History

Year	Race	Result
2018	Grays Harbor County Superior Court Judge, Position 3	Won election, 51.17% (12,398 votes) vs. Ray Kahler (11,831). Took the bench January 2019.
2024	Grays Harbor County Superior Court Judge, Position 3	Lost re-election to Steven G. Jackson (deputy prosecutor). WA Courts directory confirms Jackson now holds the seat.
2026	Grays Harbor County District Court Judge, Position 2	Pending (challenger vs. incumbent Megan Valentine; two-candidate race advancing directly to the November general).

Metric	Value	Source
Filing Entity	No WA PDC committee registration located statewide for the 2026 cycle as of 2026-06-21, new challenger, no contributions or expenditures reported yet (under-threshold/mini-filer or not-yet-filed). Source: WA PDC SODA API (data.wa.gov), as_of 2026-06-21.	T1

3 sourced findings. All sourced at T1 (Official Record) or T2 (Multi-Source Media) per clearthemud provenance model. No T3/T4 claims included.

What happened: On October 7, 2025, Mistachkin filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit (42 U.S.C. 1983) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against Grays Harbor County and sheriff's deputies Dylan Spencer and Jeff Barbo and Chief Criminal Deputy Jason Wecker. The suit alleges a Fourth Amendment violation, arrest without probable cause, stemming from his February 12, 2024 DUI arrest, and asserts the arrest cost him his 2024 Superior Court re-election. He seeks damages, attorney's fees, and a jury trial. The county has moved to dismiss.
Source tier: T2
Political impact: High
Defense: The lawsuit reflects Mistachkin's position that the arrest was without legal basis (his breath test registered 0.017 BAC, well below the 0.08 legal limit). A pending civil suit is an allegation, not an adjudicated finding; the county disputes the claim and has moved to dismiss. Voters can weigh the underlying facts for themselves.

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/lawsuit-says-grays-harbor-deputies-arrested-sitting-judge-without-cause-costing-him-re-election/AHGO7ZHVXVECZGKSHYLYNTB3DI/
https://www.thedailyworld.com/news/former-judge-sues-sheriffs-deputies-county/
https://usaherald.com/washington-county-seeks-dismissal-of-ex-judges-dui-arrest-lawsuit/

What happened: On February 12, 2024, while serving as a sitting Grays Harbor Superior Court judge, Mistachkin was arrested for DUI in Montesano. A breath test registered 0.017 BAC, well below Washington's 0.08 legal limit. Per his subsequent lawsuit, the arresting deputy initially misread the result as 0.17 before catching the error. The disposition of the DUI charge is not established in available public sources.
Source tier: T2
Political impact: Moderate
Defense: The recorded BAC of 0.017 is roughly one-fifth of the legal limit and is not consistent with impairment, and the deputy's initial misreading of the result is central to Mistachkin's pending lawsuit. No conviction is documented in available sources. This is factual context, not a determination of wrongdoing.

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/lawsuit-says-grays-harbor-deputies-arrested-sitting-judge-without-cause-costing-him-re-election/AHGO7ZHVXVECZGKSHYLYNTB3DI/
https://www.thedailyworld.com/news/former-judge-sues-sheriffs-deputies-county/

What happened: Mistachkin lost his November 2024 Grays Harbor Superior Court (Position 3) re-election to deputy prosecutor Steven G. Jackson and no longer holds that bench (the Washington Courts directory confirms Jackson holds the seat). In 2026 he is running for the lower Grays Harbor District Court, Position 2. Available sources do not state his reason for seeking the District Court seat.
Source tier: T1
Political impact: Moderate
Defense: Mistachkin has prior District Court experience (he served as a Grays Harbor District Court judge in 2015 to 2016), so the office is within his background. Seeking a different judicial seat after an election loss is not itself disqualifying, and District Court Position 2 is the available judicial seat in 2026.

https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/?fa=court_dir.persondetail&indid=284&orgid=414
https://www.thedailyworld.com/2026/05/11/grays-harbor-county-2026-primary-races-set/

Data Sources: WA SOS, WA PDC, local media, public records
Collection Date: 2026-06-24
Highest Tier: T1 (Official Record)
Methodology: OSINT deep-dive using exclusively public-record sources. All findings at T1 or T2. No T3/T4 claims included.