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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control

Spokane returns: Good for Padden, bad for Verner

Mary Verner may be taking on the same description has been hung on Spokane mayors since 1977:

One termer.

Verner, who handily won the August primary with more than twice as  many votes as her challenger David Condon, finds herself behind the former congressional aide tonight.

He has 52 percent of the vote, or 20,599 votes; she has 47.5 percent or 18,784.

In Spokane Valley's hotly contested 4th Legislative District, former state Rep. and District Judge Mike Padden has a commanding lead over appointed Sen. Jeff Baxter for the remaining year in that district's Senate seat.

Padden has about 54 percent, Baxter about 43 percent and write-ins took up another 3 percent.

In other races:

Ben Stuckart has a comfortable lead over former mayor and former Spokane City Council President Dennis Hession to be the next council president.

Mike Fagan is leading in Northeast Spokane's Council District 1

Mike Allen is leading in South Spokane's Council District 2.

Steve Salvatori is leading in Northwest Spokane's Council District 3.

If these numbers hold up -- and there won't be any new vote counts until tomorrow afternoon -- that means a majority of the council will turn over in January. Allen served almost two years after being appointed in 2007, but the other three are newcomers to the council dais.

In perhaps the biggest surprise of the night, Spokane Proposition 1 is narrowly loosing, just about 115 votes out of some 38,000 cast. This is a stripped down version of a Community Bill of Rights that was defeated handily at the polls just two years ago. A race that close might not be decided until the final ballots are counted and the election certified on Nov. 29.



The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.