Local elections change little after more ballots counted

GRANT COUNTY — Hundreds of additional ballots have continued to be counted in Grant County since Tuesday’s primary elections, with some candidates increasing their leads since earlier in the week. But there were no major shakeups in the top-two election.

In the race for Grant County Commissioner District No. 1, Danny Stone increased his lead by a single point, to 44 percent of all votes counted, while third-place contender Mark Wanke slid a bit in the last couple of days from 22 percent to 21. In second place, Earl Romig held steady at 33 percent and is expected to face off against Stone in the November general election,.

In the other open seat on the Grant County Commission, for District No. 2, challenger Rob Jones maintained his two-point lead over incumbent Tom Taylor, with 50 percent of the vote to Taylor’s 48.

In a contested race for Legislative District 13 State Representative Position 1, incumbent Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, has slightly widened his overwhelming districtwide lead and is currently at over 74 percent of the vote. Challenging Democrat Eduardo Castaneda-Diaz has slid narrowly in the last two three days, with around 22 percent of the vote.

In Legislative District 12, which contains a portion of northern Grant County, incumbent Rep. Keith Goehner, R-Dryden, held his lead with 64 percent of the vote, while Democrat Adrianne Moore maintained her 36 percent.

Ballots will likely continue to trickle in until Aug. 21, when the primary election is scheduled to be certified by the Washington secretary of state.