Local election results tallied Wednesday appear to solidify most of the winners and losers in the area’s primary held Tuesday.
But Cathie Garber, the elections supervisor, said there are still as many as 12,000 ballots left to count.
“It’s still early to determine the winner on some of the close races,” she said.
Elections officials will continue to update their website daily until they have fewer than 500 ballots in the elections office waiting to be counted.
Former Commander Chuck Atkins and community outreach Sgt. Shane Gardner held on to their substantial lead over the two other challengers in the race for Clark County Sheriff, ensuring they will face each other in November’s general election.
In the race for the 17th Legislative District, Position 1 race, Republican Lynda Wilson captured 51.74 percent of the votes to Democratic incumbent Monica Stonier’s 48.26 percent. Because of the state’s top-two system, both will move on to the general election but the primary results point to a highly competitive race.
The gap widened in the battle against two Republicans who are hoping to unseat incumbent Rep. Jim Moeller, D-Vancouver, in the 49th Legislative District, Position 2 race. Lisa Ross, a certified public accountant, had 26.53 percent of the vote, versus Carolyn Crain’s 18.24 percent. Moeller had a substantial lead over both, with 55 percent of votes.
After Wednesday’s ballots were counted, county commissioner candidate Democrat Craig Pridemore held on to about 57 percent of the vote. His opponent for the District 3 seat, Jeanne Stewart, a Republican and former Vancouver councilwoman, garnered about 42 percent.
A couple of precinct committee officer races are within only a couple of votes from each other. Results in the PCO races are final in the primary election.
Although locally there were few surprises from this week’s primary races, for the first time in the state’s history, one congressional district will have two members of the same political party vying for the open seat. Longtime lawmaker Republican Rep. Doc Hastings decided not to seek re-election, resulting in a crowded field of candidates hoping to replace him in the 4th Congressional District. Republicans Clint Didier and Dan Newhouse will face each other in November.
