Knezovich wins

Ozzie Knezovich went from “Ozzie who?” to Spokane County’s likely choice for a full-term sheriff Tuesday, swamping Spokane Valley Police Chief Cal Walker in the Republican primary.

In ballots counted Tuesday night, Knezovich held an 8,000-vote lead over Walker, a gap so big it’s mathematically unlikely to change. He becomes the overwhelming favorite against relative unknown James Flavel – the lone Democrat and a former Idaho State policeman who has thus far campaigned little – for the Nov. 7 general election.

“Three weeks ago, I thought we were gaining steam because people could actually pronounce my last name,” Knezovich said after greeting supporters gathered in the lobby of Hotel Lusso in downtown Spokane. “It looks like a lot of hard work paid off.”

Knezovich was named to the job last spring by county commissioners in a surprise pick over Walker, the recommended replacement by retiring Sheriff Mark Sterk.

Under consideration are changes in the department’s command staff, which include the position of Valley police chief that Walker occupies. But Knezovich said he wouldn’t make any decisions “until I have a chance to talk with Cal.”

Walker said he was disappointed in the numbers, but added “I’ll be at work tomorrow and we’re going to move forward.” He said he hopes to remain the Valley police chief, something officials of the new city have also said they want.

The sheriff’s primary was the top draw on the county Republican ballot. For some in the southwestern third of the county that makes up the Third Commissioner District, the premier race was the Democratic primary for the right to challenge Phil Harris, a three-term GOP incumbent.

Neighborhood activist Bonnie Mager appeared headed to victory against two former state legislators, George Orr and Barb Chamberlain. She’ll face Harris, who won a closer-than-expected primary against retired community college instructor Larry R. Vandervert.

“This was always about a grass-roots campaign,” Mager said at her downtown election party. “People are not happy with Phil Harris and they think he needs to retire.”

Chamberlain, who was second in the count, said she would wait to concede until more ballots were in but was not expecting a turnaround.

Elections officials counted some 65,000 ballots countywide on Tuesday, but have an unknown number still in the mail that will be processed and counted after they come in over the next week.

Among those who will be watching those late-vote counts most closely will be the Republicans in the county’s other contested Republican primary, incumbent County Assessor Ralph Baker and Brad Stark, a Spokane city councilman. Baker has a 97-vote lead over Stark, or about three-tenths of 1 percent out of all the votes counted thus far.

“All we can do is wait until tomorrow,” Baker said late Tuesday.

He’ll likely have to wait longer. County Auditor Vicky Dalton said she expects the race to be close enough to require a recount, which probably won’t happen until early October.

Stark, who was disavowed by the county Republican Party in the closing days of the campaign, said he was pleased with the result: “It’s not a win, but it’s a validation.”

The winner faces Democrat Judy Personett, the sole Democrat in the race.

The Democratic ballot also featured a primary for prosecutor, with private attorney Bob Caruso leading Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor Jim Reierson by 1,300 votes, and was likely headed for a race against Republican incumbent Steve Tucker.

“That’s really nice of them,” Caruso said of the voters. “My hat goes off to Mr. Reierson for the effort that he gave. He stood up like myself and pointed out the ineffectiveness of Tucker.”

Caruso, who became a lawyer in 1999 after retiring from a successful business career, said he hopes Tucker will provide the opportunity for a debate.

“People want a change,” Caruso said. “They are sick and tired of being Tuckerized.”

Reierson said he wanted to see all the votes before conceding but added “if Mr. Caruso wins, I wish him the best and I will support him 100 percent in his endeavor against Mr. Tucker. I agree with him absolutely as far as the need for change.”

In the Spokane County District Court primaries, incumbent Sara Derr appeared to have beat back a pair of challengers. If current trends hold, she’ll have more than half the votes, which under state law means she’ll be on the Nov. 7 general election without a challenger for the Position 2 seat.

The court’s appointed incumbent, Harvey Dunham, was not so fortunate. In the ballots counted Tuesday night Dunham was third – and therefore out of the general – behind Deputy County Prosecutor Debra Hayes, and private attorney Mike Nelson.

Dunham was appointed to an open seat on the District Court bench in February 2005, but the appointment was controversial. County commissioners set up a panel to review applications and recommend a replacement, but Dunham was not among their recommendations.

A longtime District Court judge pro-tem and a friend of Commissioner Phil Harris, Dunham received the appointment but had to face voters this fall. That added an extra dimension to judicial races that are often a comparison of resumes.

Trailing Dunham was Deputy Public Defender Chris Carlile and Deputy Prosecutor David Stevens in Tuesday’s vote count.