Gary DeVon/GT file photo
OROVILLE – The final count of the Aug. 2 primary election led to no surprises and it is now officially certified that Lloyd E. Caton Jr. and Jon Neal will be proceeding to the November general election as candidates for Commissioner District 3.
In the Tuesday, Aug. 16 tally, Caton and Neal saw their percentage of the total votes shrink by negligible amounts. A total of just 148 votes separated the two Republican candidates, who each got more than twice as many ballots as cast for each of the two Independent candidates, Aaron Kester and Kari Alexander.
Much the same can be said for the three-way race for Okanogan County Sheriff, in which all candidates expressed a preference for the Republican Party. Incumbent Anthony “Tony” Hawley remained in the lead by 306 votes over Paul D. Budrow. Both Hawley and Budrow had nearly twice as many votes as Kevin D. Newport, the third candidate on the primary ballot.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the race for county coroner where David Rodriguez, the current coroner, agreed to a last minute write-in campaign after at first saying he wasn’t going to run. While Rojean “Jeannie” Hughes, the only name on the ballot for the position, received the overwhelming majority of votes (96,721), Rodriguez, gathered several times the 250 votes he needed to appear on the general election ballot in November. Rodriguez ended up with a total of 1,561 write-in votes.
Also running for four-year terms in county offices were: Pam Johnson, county treasurer; Albert H. Lin, prosecuting attorney (four-year short and full term); Susan Speiker, county clerk; Cari Hall, county auditor and Larry D. Gilman, county assessor.
In the state’s Seventh District, incumbent state Representative Jacquelin Maycumber remained well ahead among Okanogan County voters for Position 1. The Republican had 7,300 (74.49%) votes cast in her favor, a slight increase in her lead over the last count. Her challenger, Lonny Ray Williams, who also prefers the Republican Party, had 2,196 (22.41%) in the final count. Maycumber continued to lead by a margin of over two-to-one throughout the state’s Seventh District. The two will meet in the November general election.
The Position 2 Representative for the Seventh District, Incumbent Republican Joel Kretz, ran unopposed this go around. Incumbent Republican Shelly Short also ran unopposed in the primary for her Seventh District Senate position.
In the national races, it looks like Incumbent Dan Newhouse, a Republican, will share the ballot for U.S. Representative, District 4, with a Democrat, Doug White. In the final tally of the ballots, Newhouse had 571 votes more than White. The question now is with the field swept clean of the six other Republicans who ran, will White be able to pull off a win in a traditionally conservative district. In the primary, former candidate for state governor Loren Culp came in a strong third.
Statewide, Democrat Patty Murray finished with by far the most votes for U.S. Senator in a crowded field. Murray, the incumbent, got more than half the vote with Tiffany Smiley, a Republican, earning about a third of the vote. The rest of the 18 candidates were no where close to the top-two who will appear on the general election ballot.
In Okanogan County there was a 49.1 percent turnout, while statewide the turnout was 40.43 percent voter turnout. The election was certified on the same day as the last count, Tuesday, Aug. 16.
