Baumgartner leads 5th Congressional field

SPOKANE — A perennial local politician is leading in the Tuesday, Aug. 6, primary election race for the 5th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

At the end of the first day of counting, Spokane Republican Michael Baumgartner had a commanding lead with 29,892 votes. Spokane Democrat Marla Conroy was in second place with 20,938 votes.

Baumgartner won most of the counties in the southeast portion of the district, but the lion's share of his support — 21,429 ballots, or 71.69% of his initial tally— came from Spokane County.

While Conroy didn't win a single coun...