Wick sees lead over Wood shrink in Spokane Valley Council race

Incumbent Spokane Valley City Councilman Ben Wick saw his slim lead over challenger Sam Wood shrink after ballots were counted Wednesday.

Wick, who is seeking his second term on the council, holds a 111-vote lead over Wood out of more than 13,000 votes cast. The margin is less than the number of write-in votes (132) received in the election, meaning neither candidate has a majority of the ballots cast as of Wednesday night.

Wick held a 146-vote lead on Election Night. A total of 22,000 ballots countywide remain to be counted as of Wednesday evening, the Spokane County Elections Office reported.

The other two incumbents seeking re-election also held on to much bigger leads in their races. Mayor Dean Grafos was running unopposed, and Arne Woodard held a lead of 52 percent to challenger and former Mayor Tom Towey’s 47 percent.