Franklin auditor denies ‘advising’ challengers of state senator’s address
Franklin County’s auditor on Monday splashed cold water on claims that he advised challengers to take pictures and watch the house owned by a Washington state senator in an attempt to prove that she’s not living legally in the voting district.
Trevor Delorme, 21, of Kennewick, was arrested in late April and charged with stalking, a gross misdemeanor, after he spent several days surveilling a house owned by state Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, and rented by her adult daughter.
Police claim his actions were directed by Torres’ opponent, Republican Gabe Galbraith, and his campaign aide Benson Behen, according to police reports obtained and verified by the Herald. The two are now part of an open criminal investigation into claims of harassment and stalking, said the report.
Neither could be reached to comment on the investigation.
Auditor Matt Beaton says online assertions from Galbraith’s supporters, including a family member, that he gave the campaign guidance on how to gather evidence for a voter registration challenge against Torres are false.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about when he says my office suggested that,” Beaton told the Herald. “We do not advise voters. We direct them to the resources available to the public to the very process that affects elections.”
Beaton said he would take exception to any insinuation or misconception that directing the Galbraith campaign to resources would count as “advising them.”
He frequently points folks to online resources so that voters can learn how to verify addresses. The process is also listed on the Secretary of State’s Office’s challenge form.
While individual counties are responsible for deciding voter registration challenges, they do not direct challengers with what evidence is sufficient to build a successful case.
“We don’t give them legal advice,” he said.
Jeffrey Briggs, a chief civil deputy prosecutor with the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office, said it’s the duty of challengers to ensure forms are filled out correctly and thoroughly.
“... We cannot give the public advice other than to read that section carefully, along with the form, to determine it is appropriately filled out,” Briggs said.
Registration hearing this week
The race for the open Senate seat in Washington’s 8th Legislative District has quickly turned from a bitter clash between two Republicans into a serious statewide controversy.
Torres’ family asserts that their privacy and sense of security were breached by Delorme and Galbraith’s actions, while Galbraith’s supporters and members of the Benton County Republican Party have criticized Torres for carpetbagging around Pasco.
The 8th district encompasses Kennewick, west Pasco, south Richland, parts of West Richland and other parts of rural Benton County.
Torres — a former Pasco City Council member who has represented the 15th Legislative District the past three years — is one of several Central Washington lawmakers who were drawn out of their seats after a long legal fight surrounding the 2020 Washington State Redistricting Commission.
On Wednesday morning, the Franklin County Canvassing Board will gather evidence, hear arguments and possibly rule on a voter registration challenge filed against Torres by Pasco voter Richard Weiss. The challenge could disqualify her eligibility to run in the 8th District.
The three-person board will be made up of representatives from Beaton’s office, the county commissioners and the prosecutor’s office.
The burden is on Weiss to “prove by clear and convincing evidence” that Torres’ registration is improper, Beaton said quoting state law.
Under state law, Beaton’s office presides over the hearing, and he said he will serve as one of the three canvassing board members. He is a Republican.
Commissioners Chair Rocky Mullen will likely serve as well, since his peers on the board have both endorsed in the race. Commissioner Stephen Bauman has backed Torres, and Commissioner Clint Didier is behind Galbraith. All three are Republicans.
Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant, who also endorsed Torres, has recused himself from both the Delorme case and from this voter registration challenge. Beaton said a representative from Sant’s office will still serve on the canvassing board.
Earlier this year, Torres changed her voter registration to a home she now rents on Road 64 in order to run in the 8th District. She voted in the district in April during a school district election.
Before moving there, Torres had lived and registered at two other properties in and around Pasco. One of those homes is the place she currently rents out to her adult daughter and granddaughter. Weiss and some others believe she still lives there and not on Road 64.
This voter registration challenge is the most prominent to take place since 2022 when congressional candidate Jerrod Sessler was allegedly not voting from his Old Inland Empire Highway property in the 2019 election. That was filed by Kennewick voter and Councilman John Trumbo, who argued Sessler didn’t have the correct occupancy permit in order to live on the property.
Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton ultimately chose to dismiss that challenge, saying that the question of what permits Sessler possessed didn’t determine whether he physically lived on the property listed on his registration. Even Trumbo admitted he could not definitively prove where Sessler was living.
This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Franklin auditor denies ‘advising’ challengers of state senator’s address."
