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Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Tight races in Harrington, Sprague
ODESSA — Incumbents held comfortable leads over their opponents in local races for Mayor and Councilmember No. 5 after the first ballot count in the primary election Tuesday, Aug. 1.
Incumbent mayor Bill Crossley had 162 votes. Second-place Jeremy Smith had 37 votes, while Ed Hayden was third with 22 votes.
“I was pretty overwhelmed and humbled (after seeing tallies),” Crossley said. “This time of year, people work a lot of late hours, so to see that many people get out and vote is pretty awesome.”
“I’m actually shocked that I got votes,” Smith said. “There’s stuff to build on and progress to be made.”
Hayden said in the future, candidates trying to knock off an incumbent should receive earlier newspaper coverage and begin their campaigns sooner in the year.
“Exposure is very important, because you’re trying to overcome an incumbent,” he said.
Meanwhile, incumbent councilwoman Marlene Kramer garnered 114 votes. Laura Caler had 73 votes, while Michael Igo had 33 votes.
“I thank the people and I just care so much about my hometown,” Kramer said. “I’d love to see it grow even more.”
“It sucks. All these people swore they’d vote for me,” Igo said. “Where are they? 33 votes, that’s enough for a whole damn street.”
Races are much tighter in Harrington and Sprague.
In Harrington, Gavin Wagner holds a slim lead over his two opponents with 29 votes. The margin between second and third is even slimmer, with Kelly Foreman holding 19 votes and Steven Wright 14.
“I’m very happy with the poll results thus far,” Wagner said. “I look forward to going and taking seat number 5 and joining the city council.”
In Sprague, Jeffrey Smith has 35 votes. And there is a tie for the all-important second-place finisher, with incumbent Trace De Garmo and RonDel Krauter each garnering 22 votes.
If the race remains tied after a final count, an automatic recount will occur. If there is still a tie after the recount, the race will be decided via a lot draw, Lincoln County deputy elections officer Norm Caley said.
The top two vote-getters in each nonpartisan race will advance to November’s primary election.
The election isn’t over, with a count of remaining mail-in votes scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4.
Caley said at least 120 ballots remain left to count, depending on how many valid postmarks are received via mail Thursday.
Voter turnout was 22.99% as of first count, with 580 ballots counted out of 2,523 registered voters.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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