Gary Warnock
Democratic · WA · Thurston County Coroner
Gary Warnock is the elected Thurston County Coroner. County materials identify him as the Coroner, and his voter-pamphlet biography describes service in that office since 2007, previous work as a deputy coroner, and statewide forensic-investigations council service.
Where Gary Warnock stands, based on their records
Supports
Environment and Public Health (3 records), Government Efficiency (2 records), Public Safety and Crime Control (1 record)
Track record
Track record — Environment and Public Health
Environment and Public Health · 3 support
Published the Thurston County Coroner's Office 2025 Annual Report, which recorded 496 deaths certified by the office, 391 cases sent for toxicology testing, and manner-of-death determinations of 12 homicides, 67 suicides and 238 accidents, including 132 poison and drug deaths.
June 8, 2026Supports Environment and Public Health
Source: s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com · researched July 30, 2026
Published the Thurston County Coroner's Office 2024 Annual Report, which recorded manner-of-death determinations of 10 homicides, 51 suicides, 227 accidents, 2,576 natural deaths and 4 undetermined deaths for the year.
April 16, 2026Supports Environment and Public Health
Source: s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com · researched July 30, 2026
Presented Thurston County death-investigation data to the Board of County Commissioners on August 13, 2024, reporting 433 of 2,866 county deaths investigated in 2023 and 151 drug-related deaths, up from 47 in 2019, and attributing roughly 90 percent of that rise to fentanyl.
August 13, 2024Supports Environment and Public Health
Source: thejoltnews.com · researched July 30, 2026
Track record — Government Efficiency
Government Efficiency · 2 support
Appointed Traci McCullah as Thurston County's chief deputy coroner in January 2025, the first person in that job since the 1990s. She runs daily office operations and leads the accreditation work the state requires for full autopsy reimbursement.
January 29, 2025Supports Government Efficiency
Source: thurstoncountywa.gov · researched July 30, 2026
Asked Thurston County commissioners for $225,000 more a year for autopsies and $158,000 for a full-time chief deputy coroner. Told them the office had no administrative support.
October 9, 2024Supports Government Efficiency
Source: thejoltnews.com · researched July 30, 2026
Track record — Public Safety and Crime Control
Public Safety and Crime Control · 1 support
Certified the cause and manner of death in a Thurston County Sheriff's Office homicide investigation, determining after a July 7, 2026 autopsy that David Poplack, 49, of Olympia died of multiple sharp force injuries and that the manner of death was homicide.
July 8, 2026Supports Public Safety and Crime Control
Source: chronline.com · researched July 30, 2026
Track record — General
General · 2 records
Served as the elected Thurston County Coroner, leading the office that investigates sudden, violent, unexpected, and suspicious deaths and determines each death's cause and manner.
July 29, 2026
Source: thurstoncountywa.gov · researched July 30, 2026
Documented the Coroner's Office workload publicly, reporting 2,880 deaths in Thurston County during 2024 with 364 autopsies, a 13 percent rise in deaths and a 117 percent rise in autopsies since 2018, and stating that office staffing had not grown with the county's 18.3 percent population increase since 2010.
February 3, 2025
Source: thejoltnews.com · researched July 30, 2026
Past race Gary Warnock ran in:
- County Coroner · August 4, 2026 · Thurston County, Washington · incumbent
Profile last researched July 25, 2026.