Gregg leads sheriff's race as thousands of ballots remain uncounted

EPHRATA — Challenger Darrik Gregg held an early lead over incumbent Grant County Sheriff Joey Kriete following the first release of election results Tuesday night, but both candidates said the outcome remains uncertain with thousands of ballots still waiting to be processed. Preliminary results as of Nov. 3 showed Gregg with 6,670 votes, or about 54.7%, compared to 5,392 votes, or about 44.3%, for Kriete. There were also 123 write-in candidates, or about 1% of the vote. However, Grant County Elections Coordinator Rebecca Pettingill said Wednesday that the county still has a substantial number of ballots left to count before election certification Nov. 24.