Brian Ross Dansel (born April 2, 1983) is an American politician, political advisor, and current member of the Ferry County

Board of Commissioners A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States. A county usually has three to five ...

. Before that he was a Special Assistant to the

United States Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments The department includes several organi ...

in the

Trump Administration Presidency of Donald Trump may refer to: * First presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration from 2017 to 2021 * Second presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration since 2025 See also * ...

. He was previously a Republican member of the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Washington State Capitol, Legis ...

from the 7th Legislative District. Dansel won the seat in the 2013 election, in which he defeated appointed senator John Smith, and was sworn in on December 6, 2013. In a letter to the Washington State Office of Governor dated January 24, 2017, Dansel resigned as senator for the seventh district and vacated his seat after accepting a position with the Trump Administration as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture. In early November, he returned to Washington state to be the director of the state's

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

Farm Service Agency The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is the United States Department of Agriculture agency that was formed by merging the farm loan portfolio and staff of the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) and the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service ...

. In 2023, he became a Ferry County

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

Washington State Senate

Dansel represented

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Ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, and Stevens Counties, along with portions of Grant and

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...

Counties. An earlier redistricting proposal from 2021 would have divided Okanogan County between the 7th and 13th districts.

Elections

In 2013, Dansel ran against incumbent Republican senator John Smith. On November 5, 2013, Dansel defeated Smith with 54% of the vote. During his campaign for state senate, Dansel received the endorsement of the

Washington Education Association The Washington Education Association (WEA) is the statewide teachers' union for the state of Washington, United States. It was founded on April 2–3, 1889 as the Washington State Teachers Association. The WEA was the defendant in Davenport v. Was ...

and a $500 contribution from the Spokane Committee on Political Education, a

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

under the

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

. Smith claimed that Dansel was a "tool of unions" throughout the campaign. Dansel responded by asserting that "he'll listen to anyone, whether they agree with him or not."

2024 congressional run

On February 10, 2024, Dansel announced that he would be a candidate for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

to succeed

Cathy McMorris Rodgers Cathy Anne McMorris Rodgers (born May 22, 1969) is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2025 as the United States representative for , which encompasses the eastern third of the state and includes Spokane, the state's second-largest cit ...

, who is not seeking reelection. On April 19, his campaign was endorsed by the

Washington State Republican Party The Washington State Republican Party (WSRP) is the U.S. state, state affiliate of the national Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue. Washington is considered a red st ...

during the State convention. On August 6, 2024, Dansel lost the primary, placing in a distant fifth with 11% of the vote. He promptly announced his retirement from politics, and deleted his Twitter account.

References

1983 births Living people People from Ferry County, Washington Republican Party Washington (state) state senators First Trump administration personnel Candidates in the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections 21st-century members of the Washington State Legislature {{Washington-WASenate-stub