Republican Clark County Councilor Gary Medvigy emerged from Tuesday night’s primary election with 58.88 percent of the initial count, compared with the 41.82 percent received by his Democratic challenger, Adrian Cortes.
Both candidates advance to November’s general election, where the winner will go on to serve a one-year unexpired term. In Washington, all partisan elections appear on the primary ballot even if only two candidates are seeking the position.
The initial count of 19,354 votes on election night suggests that Medvigy could be positioned to prevail in November’s general election.
“I’m hopeful,” said Medvigy of the result. “I worked pretty hard, at least I thought so.”
Medvigy has only lived in Clark County since 2016. But equipped with a resume that includes stints as a California Superior Court judge, prosecutor and U.S. Army general, he was appointed in January to fill the District 4 vacancy on the Clark County Council. During his time representing the predominantly rural district, Medvigy has taken conservative positions on taxes and spending. Under the county charter, only residents of that district will vote in that race.
Cortes, an educator and member of the Battle Ground City Council, has emphasized his community ties to Clark County. He’s also espoused fiscally conservative positions and called for more public involvement in county government.
Cortes said he would continue working to get his message in front of voters.
“It looks like we need to do some work about closing that gap,” he said.
