Grant Co. and voters agree - somewhat

EPHRATA - By and large, it was a mixed bag how Grant County primary voters' opinions lined up with the rest of the state.

Of the nine state positions up for election this year, county and state voters didn't see eye to eye on five of the races.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee garnered more than 4,000 votes over Republican candidate Rob McKenna state-wide, a tight 3 percent.

But Grant County voters heavily favored McKenna, awarding him nearly 30 percent more of their votes. As of Wednesday night, he had nearly 3,700 votes tallied over Inslee in Grant.

Current Lt. Governor Brad Owen, a Democrat, handily wooed the state's constituency, walking away twice the votes over Republican runner-up Bill Finkbeiner.

Locally, though, Finkbeiner received roughly 4,000 votes compared to Owen's 3,500, with a five-percentage point difference.

Another party-line differentiation between county and state voters is the Attorney General's race.

Democrat and Seattle City Council member Bob Ferguson took the majority of state ballots with 465,758 to Republican Regan Dunn's 343,934: a 13.6 percent difference.

But Dunn, also a Seattle City Council member, reigned victorious in the county, taking 5,405 to Ferguson's 3,619. That's a difference of 16.5 percent.

Current Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark, a Democrat, walked away with first place, but Grant County voters heaped 34 percent more of their votes to Republican Clint Didier.

And the state Insurance Commissioner had a tough race in Grant County, with less than 50 votes separating Democratic incumbent Mike Kreidler and Republican challenger John Adams.

Statewide, however, Kreidler's votes nearly tripled those Adams received, though both will appear on the November ballot.

State and local voters tallies did coincide on four races.

Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman, the only Republican in the Secretary of State race, took the plurality of votes from both Grant County and the state. Along with Democrat Kathleen Drew, also of Thurston County, the two women advance to the general ballot.

Grant County voters also tapped Drew as their second-most vote-getter.

Auditor candidates James Watkins, Republican, and current state Rep. Troy Kelley, D-Tacoma, also matched the top-two vote-getting slots in both county and state.

Local voters also helped Randy I. Dorn to likely serve a second term as the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Their 3,271 votes helped bolster Dorn's numbers to receive more than 50 percent of the statewide vote.

Because the office is non-partisan, if a candidate receives more than the majority of the vote, they move to the general election uncontested.

Finally, current state Treasurer Jim McIntire ran unopposed, so it's not surprising that 100 percent of the votes from both Grant County and the state electorate went to the Democratic candidate.