Police woman wins Wahluke school board race

MATTAWA — In one of the tightest school board races ever, it appears Mattawa Police Officer Maybel Pantaleon will return to Wahluke School District board of directors position No. 2.

All other elections of note in South County weren’t the least bit close. The levy election for additional funding for the Port of Royal Slope was handily defeated.

In the lone tight race, the incumbent Pantaleon was three votes ahead of Cynthia DeVictoria at last count on Friday. The Grant County Elections Dept. estimated there was still one vote to be counted.

Pantaleon believes she has won, but she will not declare victory until after the election’s final count and certification on Nov. 23.

Pantaleon said she was ahead by eight votes when she first checked election returns on No. 3. When she checked on Nov. 6, her lead had dropped to three votes.

“Cynthia came over to congratulate me Tuesday evening,” Pantaleon said. “It was nice of her to do that, but I told her the election wasn’t over yet.”

In Royal School Board races, Michael Noftle retained his seat with a 433-236 defeat of Luis Sanchez. Dan Miller won an open seat with a 539-158 defeat of Luis Sanchez.

Miller was surprised by the margin of his victory, but he said he is anxious to serve.

“We’ll see if that same number of people want me after I make a couple of decisions,” Miller said.

The other election of interest to South County residents was the Port of Royal Slope levy, which would have brought new funding for the support of the Port.

PORS Executive Director Kathy Potter said she would consult with the board of commissioners to determine future action.