Blankenship ends Election Day with strong lead

RITZVILLE — Incumbent Adams County Commissioner Dan Blankenship is leading challenger David Lobe in the race for the District 1 seat.  

In unofficial results released Tuesday night, Blankenship has 1,624 votes (61.52%) to 965 (36.55%) for Lobe.  

As of Tuesday, 2,882 votes had been counted countywide, but not all voters voted for all offices, with an estimated 700 left to count. As of Tuesday there were 2,640 votes in the commission race. Vote totals will be updated Thursday.  

Both candidates were asked for comment on the results, but neither responded.

In an earlier interview, Blankenship said he wanted to run again to finish projects that he had started. He cited the Adams County Jail as one of them.  

Lobe said in an earlier interview that the jail was one of two issues he considered paramount in the county. The jail closed in May 2022; Adams County inmates are transported to other facilities. Both Lobe and Blankenship said providing an in-county jail facility would be a priority. 

Blankenship said the commissioners are working to obtain the necessary funding to rebuild six bridges in the county that cross the East Low Canal, the first step in widening the canal in those sections. The goal is to switch farms that currently use groundwater to surface water for irrigation. Blankenship said he was skeptical at first, but that the effect of irrigation on the aquifer that supplies water to most Adams County cities changed his mind.  

Lobe said his second area of focus would have been county roads, which he doesn’t think are adequately maintained. In his opinion, the cause was a lack of leadership and he said the commissioners needed to be more involved in management of the public works department. 

This story has been updated to reflect an error in the vote count for David Lobe.