SPOKANE, Wash – Candidates in several races will have to be patient in the coming days, as Spokane County counts ballots in this primary election.
Spokane County elections officers counted more than 76,000 ballots Tuesday night, amounting to a turnout right around 20%.
Auditor Vicky Dalton says she expects that number to climb, citing a slow trickle of ballots leading up to Tuesday’s primary.
Dalton expects a large number of ballots to come in that were dropped into ballot boxes or will come through the mail in the coming days.
Close races
There are several close races left to be decided as ballots are counted in the coming days.
In the race for State Representative, Position 1 in District 3, only a few percentage points separate Natasha Hill, Tony Kiepe and Ben Stuckart.
The race for State Senator in Legislative District 4 is also tight on election night, with Leonard Christian, Mike Kelly and Miguel Valencia vying for the two spots to move on to the general election.
Al French is trying to hold on to his seat on the Spokane County Board of Commissioners. On election night, he’s trailing challenger Molly Marshall by about 300 votes.
In Spokane County, Michael Baumgartner and Carmela Conroy are leading the race for the 5th District seat being vacated by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. That race will be decided by voters in several counties.
Levies Passing
Several communities and fire districts were seeking voter approval this primary election.
As of Tuesday night, voters were approving a public safety levy for the City of Airway Heights, but only 611 votes have been counted.
The City of Cheney’s EMS levy is passing by a wide margin.
Fire District 4’s levy is narrowly passing as of Tuesday night.
Levies in fire districts 9 and 13 are passing as well.
You can find updated election results at this link.
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