Incumbents Hanging On By A Thread

OUTLYING COUNTIES

Incumbent county commissioners who managed to get on the general election ballot in the counties around Spokane were either hanging by their fingernails or waving goodbye Tuesday night.

Some money measures, which require 60 percent support to pass, were in the same predicament.

The only incumbent commissioners with no excuse for heartburn were in Lincoln County, where Republicans Deral Boleneus and Bill Graedel were unopposed, and in Whitman County, where the primary decided the election because only Republicans ran.

Final results weren’t available in Stevens County, where two incumbents were turned out in the Republican primary in September. But preliminary results Tuesday showed Republicans Malcolm Friedman and Tony Delgado on their way to replacing lame-duck Republicans Fred Lotze and Fran Bessermin.

Friedman had a commanding lead over Democrat Nancy Foll and independent Chuck Hayes, but Democrat Kathy Moss remained within striking distance of Delgado.

In Pend Oreille County, incumbent Republican Mike Hanson’s 61-vote lead over Democratic challenger Michael Quick, 1,747 to 1,686, was as thin as the absentee ballots that will decide the race. In the county’s other commissioner race, Republican Sam Nicholas outpolled Democrat Bob Nichols, 2,013 to 1,436, for the position being vacated by Democrat Karl McKenzie.

Ferry County voters consolidated their conservative Republican leadership Tuesday, narrowly keeping one incumbent and narrowly ousting another.

Democratic County Commissioner Gary Kohler was swapped for property-rights advocate Mike Blankenship. But Republican Commissioner Dennis Snook’s thin re-election margin over Democrat Connie Fletcher suggested voters may be ambivalent about the county’s confrontational approach to environmentalists and other governments.

Fletcher came within 100 votes of unseating Snook on a platform of trying harder to get along with the county’s environmental critics and other governments, including the Colville Confederated Tribes. A former member of the Republic School Board, Fletcher had 1,285 votes to the first-term incumbent’s 1,382.

Kohler is a three-term incumbent who had planned to step down this year, but changed his mind. His mixed signals, his one-time support for growth management and a deteriorating economy all may have contributed to Blankenship’s narrow victory.

Blankenship billed himself as an ardent defender of the county’s embattled mining, timber and cattle-grazing industries, and was rewarded with a 265-vote win over Kohler, 1,443 to 1,178.

About 800 of the county’s ballots - all of which are vote by mail - still could be returned with valid postmarks, but election officials expect only about 250.

Here’s a look at the money measures:

A bevy of levies for Whitman County’s cities and towns were decided Tuesday, the largest of which would increase Pullman property taxes from about 30 cents to $3.60 per $1,000 assessed. The city would use the money to hire three police officers and three firefighters. That levy was too close to call late Tuesday, with about 59 percent of the voters in support.

The town of Colton appeared to be passing its levy, 144-47, to raise $25,000 to improve streets and water/ sewer systems.

The city of Tekoa approved a levy to raise $60,000 for operation and maintenance in the street department, 200-94. The levy to raise $35,000 for operation, personnel and maintenance in the police department was too close to call.

The Lacrosse Park and Recreation District levy to raise $35,000 for the swimming pools was passing late Tuesday, 247-71.

The rest of the levy results for Whitman County weren’t available at midnight Tuesday.

These are the levies that couldn’t be called Tuesday night:

The town of Albion’s levy to raise $28,125 for law enforcement.

The town of Farmington’s levy to raise $6,000 for the current expense fund, a levy to raise $5,000 for street maintenance, and a levy to raise $2,000 for the equipment fund.

The town of Garfield’s levy to raise $5,000 for park improvements, a levy to raise $25,000 for street maintenance and repair, and a levy to raise $20,00 for water system maintenance and repair.

The city of Palouse’s levy to raise $35,000 for street oiling and street improvements and a levy to raise $23,000 for operation and maintenance of the swimming pool.

The town of Rosalia’s levy to raise $35,000 for the town street fund.

The Oakesdale Cemetery District levy for $15,000 for maintenance and improvements results.

The Garfield Cemetery District levy for $10,000.

The Rosalia Fire District No. 7 levy to raise property taxes 50 cents per $1,000 in property value for six years of emergency medical services.

The St. John Park and Recreation District levy to raise $30,000 for the swimming pool. The Oakesdale Park and Recreation District levy to raise $58,000 for the swimming pool.

The Rosalia Park and Recreation District levy to raise $40,000 for maintenance and operation.

In the Lincoln County town of Sprague, a $310,000 bond measure to expand the school gymnasium passed with 68.7 percent support, 191-87.

In Pend Oreille County, a $33,000 operating levy for Newport-area Cemetery District 1 apparently failed with only 57.7 percent support, 1,723 to 1,053. But a $24,000 operating levy for the Sacheen Water-Sewer District apparently passed with 66.7 percent support, 58-27.

In Stevens County’s Evergreen School District at Gifford, with only absentee ballots counted, a two-year, $20,000-a-year operating levy was failing.