Melissa McKnight leads in Grant County assessor race

GRANT, ADAMS COUNTIES - In the only two local races with more than two candidates, Grant County assessor candidate Melissa McKnight and Adams County District 3 Commissioner Jeff Stevens will advance to November's election.

With an estimated 2,000 ballots left to count in Grant County, incumbent Assessor Laure Grammer currently leads challenger Dave Dinges to join McKnight in the general election. McKnight received 3,982 votes, about 41 percent, while Grammer and Dinges are separated by just 120 votes. Grammar sits at 2,920 votes while Dinges has 2,800 votes as of Tuesday night, leaving the winner too close to call.

In the Adams County District 3 Commissioner race, incumbent Jeff Stevens, a Republican, who has served as District 3 commissioner since 1999, received 213 votes, nearly 44 percent, while Republican Jessie Dominguez tallied 174 votes, about 36 percent. Dominguez is the owner and operator of D&Z Events and is a probation manager for the Adams County Juvenile Court.

The lone Democrat in the race, Eleanor Brodahl, an Othello banker who served 15 years on the Othello City Council, received 98 votes, about 20 percent. Both Stevens and Dominguez will face off in November's election as an estimated 150 ballots are left to count, according to the county Election's Department.

Voter turnout was low in the two counties, with just about 30 percent of voters returning their ballots. The next ballot count in both counties is expected Wednesday afternoon.