Half of Adams County voters cast ballots

RITZVILLE – The August 4 primary was certified August 18 following a final count of Adams County ballots. A total of 3,591 ballots counted out of 7,168 registered voters in 31 precincts showed a voter turnout of 50.1%.

Washington State as a whole showed the highest voter turnout since 1964, the Secretary of State's Office announced August 21, with more than 2.51 million people - or 54.44% of all registered voters in the state casting ballots.

In the Adams County Commissioner District 1 race, challenger Dan Blankenship came in with more votes than incumbent John Marshall, and challenger Glen Stockwell combined. Blankenship received 56.22% of the vote with 1,093 ballots cast in his favor. Marshall scored 23.77% of the vote with 462, and Stockwell came in at 19.29% with 375. Blankenship and Marshall, both Republicans, will face off in the Nov. 3 general election.

Jay R. Weise, currently serving as Director of Adams County Emergency Management, took 63.2% of the vote for County Commissioner in District 2, a seat which will be vacated by retiring Chairman Roger L. Hartwig. Ken Johnson took 34.98% of the vote. Both candidates are Republicans.

Phillip Peterson won 70.87% of the vote for Ritzville Rural SE Precinct Committee Officer – Republican race with 73 votes. John E. Faure received 30 votes, or 29.13%.

Both the Lind and Ritzville Park and Recreation Maintenance and Operation levies passed narrowly; with a 52.85% approval in Ritzville (537 approved, 479 rejected) 58.07% of Lind voters approving theirs (187 approved, 135 rejected).

The Cemetery District 1 Maintenance and Operation Levy passed by 69.4%, with 93 voters approving it and 41 voters rejecting it.

In Legislative District 9 State Representative race for position 1, Republican Mary Dye took 77.41% of the vote statewide over Libertarian Brett Borden. Among Adams County voters, Dye took 85.99% of the vote.

In the Legislative District 9 State Senator race, G.O.P. incumbent Mark G. Schoesler maintains his strong lead over Democrat Jenn Goulet. Schoesler took 79.4% of the vote in Adams County, and 67.43% of the vote statewide.

Washington State Insurance Commissioner Democrat Mike Kreidler takes a 59.03% lead statewide, while scoring only 26.29% of the Adams County vote. Republican Chirayu Avinash Patel, preferred by Adams County voters for 61.25% of the vote, scored 27.12% statewide.

Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction incumbent Chris Reykdal, who scored just 22.78% of Adams County votes, maintains his seat statewide with 40.24% of the vote. Maia Espinoza, who took second-place over Ron Higgins with Adams County voters, maintained a narrow second-place lead statewide, with 25.28% of the vote over Higgins' 20.45%.

Democrat incumbent Washington State Attorney Bob Ferguson, who scored just 23.54% of Adams County votes, took 55.79% of the statewide ballot. Republican Matt Larkin came in second statewide with 23.67% of the vote. Larkin scored a close lead over Republican Brett Rogers county-wide, scoring 33.71% over Rogers' 30.68%. Rogers took just 12.21% of the statewide ballot.

Democrat incumbent Hillary Franz was favored by 51.13% of statewide voters, compared to just 20.65% of Adams County voters. County voters had Republicans Sue Kuehl Pederson and Cameron Whitney in a close first and second placement, with Pederson at 26.29% and Whitney scoring 25.28% countywide. Pederson took 23.39% of the statewide ballot, while Whitney garnered just 8.34%.

The race for Washington State Treasurer was much closer statewide than it was county-wide, with Democrat Mike Pellicciotti scoring 53.22% of the statewide ballot over Republican Duane A. Davidson's 46.67%. Davidson had a solid lead county-wide, at 78.52% over Pellicciciotti's 21.36%.

Statewide, Republican incumbent Kim Wyman faces a tighter battle over Democrat Gael Tarleton than she did among Adams County voters, who favored her by 78.22% over Tarleton at 17.48%. Statewide, Wyman has 50.89% of the ballot, with Tarleton scoring 43.29%.

Republican challenger Chris Leyba scored 75.45% of votes for Washington State Auditor county-wide, but dropped to 41.07% of the vote statewide, making for a close battle with Democrat incumbent Patrice McCarthy, who took 47.41% of the statewide vote and just 18.15% of the countywide vote.

For Washington State Lt. Governor, Adams County voters favored Republican Marty McClendon, at 21.84% of the vote versus Republican Ann Davison Sattler with 20.03% of the vote countywide. Statewide ballots however, put two Democrats in the race going forward, with Denny Heck coming in with 25.01% of the vote and Marko Liias at 18.53%.

In the race for Washington State Governor, Democrat Jay Inslee would not have made it to the General Election if left to Adams County voters. Inslee received just 16.86% of the vote with 597 ballots cast in his favor. Republican Raul Garcia received 1,100 votes for 31.06% and Republican Loren Culp, who will face off against Inslee Nov. 3, received 1.074 votes, or 30.33% of Adams County ballots. Statewide, Inslee came in among 36 candidates with just 50.14% of the vote. Garcia was favored by just 5.43% of statewide voters. Culp, whose biographical information was left out of the voters' pamphlet, scored 17.41% of the vote statewide.

Ballots for the Nov. 3 General Election will be sent to voters no later than Oct. 16, according to the Secretary of State's Office.