Grant County Sheriff’s race close in unofficial primary results Tuesday

EPHRATA — The Grant County Sheriff’s race was neck-and-neck with a 0.2 percent gap when voting closed yesterday, according to the Grant County Auditor’s Office. 

Darrick Gregg led incumbent Sheriff Joey Kriete by a mere six votes, 2,818 to 2,812, in unofficial primary results released by the auditor’s office Tuesday evening. GCSO Sgt. Josh Sainsbury, with 2,088 votes, was eliminated from the general election in November. 

Republican Amanda McKinney, with 25,663 votes, and Democrat John Duresky, who received 22,657 votes, were the top two out of a field of 11 candidates seeking to replace Rep. Dan Newhouse as U.S. representative for Washington’s Fourth Congressional District. The nearest runner-up was Republican Jerrod Sessler, with 10,426 votes.  

In the Fifth Congressional District, incumbent Republican Michael Baumgartner held a comfortable lead over his general election opponent, Democrat Carmela Conroy, 54,205-23,536. 

In the race for Alex Ybarra’s Washington State House of Representatives District 13 seat, Republican Deanna Martinez held a lead of about 300 votes over fellow Republican Joshua Thompson.  

Turnout was low for the primary, with only 16 percent of Grant and Adams County voters submitting a ballot. 

Tuesday’s primary election results were only preliminary, as ballots are still coming in, according to the Grant County Auditor’s Office website.  They will be updated at 5 p.m. today and officially certified Aug. 18. Unofficial results for all races can be found at results.votewa.gov.