Archived Version: November 4, 2008
An information resource for Washington voters
Bruce Spanner
Benton & Franklin County
Superior Court
Position One
Current
Employer: Partner in law firm of Miller, Mertens, Spanner &
Comfort.
Judicial Experience: Judge Pro Tem of Benton Franklin Superior Court and Benton County District Court, arbitrator, mediator.
Significant Career Experience: In 23 years Bruce developed broad and diverse expertise in many areas of the law. Clients range from individuals, small businesses, large corporations, pro bono work. He has appeared before the Washington State Supreme Court, and Courts of Appeal, federal courts and many Washington State agencies.
Education: Gonzaga Law School, second in his class; WSU, Chemical Engineering and Richland High School.
Family: Married 30 years to Mary; daughter, Meghan, son, Patrick.
CANDIDATE STATEMENT: Bruce Spanner, local attorney and life-long resident of Tri-Cities, has the legal experience and the passion for service to the community to be an excellent Benton Franklin Counties Superior Court Judge.
His experience includes serving as Judge Pro Tem of Superior Court and District Court and 23 years as an attorney has provided him a broad and diverse background on a wide variety of legal issues. His representation of individuals, small businesses and large corporations, has given him a balanced perspective. Bruce has devoted countless volunteer hours providing pro bono legal work to underprivileged individuals and nonprofit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity as well as lending a helping hand and providing leadership as a board member.
His vast legal background combined with his years of community service and devotion to family gives him life experiences that ensures he will be a hard working, well prepared and effective judge. He will treat all litigants with respect, understanding the importance of their issues. Bruce believes that a Judge’s duty is to uphold the law fairly, and not to legislate a personal agenda.
Spanner graduated from Gonzaga Law School second in his class, Washington State University and Richland High School.
| ORGANIZATION |
SALVADOR MENDOZA |
BRUCE SPANNER |
|
Benton-Franklin Bar Association (Member Poll) |
Overall average on 1 to 100 scale: 83.28 |
Overall average on 1 to 100 scale: 65.68 |
|
Latina/o Bar Association of Washington |
Qualified | * |
|
Washington Women Lawyers |
Well Qualified | * |
Important note! Each of these organizations uses its own standards and rating terms when evaluating candidates; please check their pages for further information. We do not have ratings for candidates with an asterisk (*), and the reasons vary. Some evaluations may still be in process, or we might not have received them yet; some candidates may not have been offered an opportunity to participate, or they may have declined to participate. Again, please check the organizations' pages for further details..
Newspaper endorsements (click paper for details):
| NEWSPAPER | SAL MENDOZA | BRUCE SPANNER |
| Tri-City Herald |
 |
(Click a dollar figure for detailed data from the
Public Disclosure Commission. Note that summary numbers here might not match
detailed data for various reasons.)
| CANDIDATE | REPORT DATE | CONTRIBUTIONS | EXPENDITURES |
| Salvador Mendoza | 11/03/2008 | $111,901.85 | $108,444.76 |
| Bruce Spanner | 11/03/2008 | $72,882.81 | $71,786.24 |
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