Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
SPRAGUE – The primary race for Sprague mayor has one candidate holding a solid position to advance to the general election, while the second spot remains contested between three candidates as of press time.
M. Shawn Coombs had 53 votes as of press time and is in first place. Sunnie Fortin was barely in second place with 23 votes, but Sprague business owner Dorothy Giddings was right behind with 19 votes with 10 ballots left to count countywide. Timothy Wilkens isn’t far behind Giddings with 16 votes, while fifth candidate Trace De Garmo has just seven votes. Write-in candidates have received six votes.
The top two vote-getters will advance to November’s general election.
Coombs said the results were “nice to know.”
“I wasn’t sure how I’d do with so many people running,” Coombs said. “But I think that convinces me I made the right decision.”
Fortin didn’t immediately return a call from The Times.
Giddings, who is right behind Fortin for a potential second berth to the general election, hopes to overcome Fortin and advance to help clean up the town of drug problems and issues she sees going on with council and city hall.
“This town needs to be cleaned up, and somebody needs to do it,” Giddings said. “I’ve tried to get on council before, and they wouldn’t let me.”
Giddings voiced displeasure with city hall’s handling of The Times’ attempts to reach candidates via phone. She said she told City Hall multiple times to release her phone number, but no such action was taken.
The Times reached out to City Hall multiple times in the weeks leading up to primaries asking for candidate phone numbers, and each time City Hall said they would pass along contact information for Times editor Drew Lawson to candidates.
“They don’t want me to be mayor, because they know I’d clean house,” Giddings said. “Plus, the article in the newspaper didn’t help me any…neither did the voter’s pamphlet, where it said no information was given for me. I filled out that form, just like everyone else.”
Adam Walser, the lone candidate for the partisan office of county prosecutor, will safely advance to the general election. Walser, a Republican, has received 1,950 votes. 58 votes have gone to write-in candidates.
Walser’s solo candidate bid to be elected full-time prosecutor was the only ballot measure seen for Lincoln County voters outside Sprague and Odessa.
The only other race in Lincoln County besides Sprague mayor and county prosecutor was for Councilmember Pos. No. 3 in Odessa, where Alberto Reyes has received 156 votes, Amanda Wallace has received 59 votes and Ryan Frick has received 23 votes. If that result holds, Reyes and Wallace would advance to the general election.
Lincoln County returned 2,078 ballots by first count for a 25.7% voter turnout. The county auditor’s office listed an estimated 10 ballots left to count, and the next ballot count is Friday, Aug. 6 at 3 p.m. 20 ballots have been challenged.
“Usually we’re in the top 10 (statewide) for returns, but we’re nowhere close,” elections official Norm Caley said.
The county was 25th statewide in percentage of voters that returned a ballot as of Election Night amongst 37 counties. That ranks just ahead of Adams, Grant and Spokane Counties, and just behind Skagit, Thurston and King Counties.
Just 21.54% of eligible voters had returned a ballot statewide as of Election Night.
Columbia, Wahkiakim and San Juan Counties have the highest return rate so far. Pierce, Ferry and Franklin Counties have the fewest returned ballots.
Drew Lawson is the former managing editor of the Davenport Times and a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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