Currie wins re-election to Kootenai commission

Kootenai County Commission Chairman Rick Currie pulled off a win in Tuesday’s primary election after challenger Tom Cronin led by fewer than 20 votes for most of the evening.

The final, unofficial tally about 10:30 p.m. showed Currie winning with 36 percent, or 179 votes.

Challenger Jai Nelson, a rural preservation activist, trailed all night and finished with 31 percent of the vote.

Currie will face Democrat Steve Caires, the Lakes Middle School vice principal, and independent Bob MacDonald, a former commissioner, in the November general election.

Commissioner Todd Tondee captured 55 percent of the vote to survive a challenge from Tim Herzog, a Post Falls real estate agent and political newcomer. Tondee, a former Post Falls councilman who was elected to a two-year commission term in 2006, will face Democrat Bruce Noble and independent Greg Wells in November.

Longtime county Sheriff Rocky Watson dominated former Deputy Joe Bodman with 68 percent of the vote. Kootenai County Clerk Dan English reported “light” voter turnout all day but a high number of absentee ballots.

The Currie-Cronin match up was neck and neck throughout the night. With 71 percent of precincts reporting about 10 p.m., Cronin led with 18 votes.

“It’s close,” Cronin said. “I think they (voters) are unhappy with the incumbent, and that’s why I’m winning.”

Currie had predicted that rural precincts counted later in the night would give him the win. “We’ll just have to see,” he said.

Cronin had the support of many prominent residents and the lobby group Concerned Businesses of North Idaho. The retired Chicago policeman set a fundraising record last week, with $30,058 in his war chest. The special interest group Citizens to Inform Voters spent at least $8,500 for advertising on behalf of Cronin, which is rare in county races.

Currie raised $4,700, saying that large donations often hurt candidates.

Watson will face independent challenger Arthur “Skip” Ingle, who has no law enforcement experience, in November. It’s likely that voters also will decide whether to pay for a jail expansion during the same election.

Besides the jail, Watson wants to ask taxpayers for a new sheriff’s administration building and 911 center. Bodman, a Post Falls city councilman, claimed that Watson’s poor leadership caused the staff exodus. Watson attributes it to noncompetitive salaries, which he blames on the county commission.