Benson holds slim lead over Murray

From staff reports

Brad Benson, who gambled his 6th legislative House seat to run for state Senate, maintained a slight lead Tuesday night over Brian Murray, the 27-year-old incumbent who was appointed to the Senate last year.

With about 8,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted, only 513 votes separated the two.

Benson appeared to be one of the winners in the area’s five contested races for the state Legislature. A total of 14 candidates in the 6th, 3rd, 7th and 9th legislative districts vied for the support of their parties’ members in order to move forward to November’s general election.

In a race that created rifts among Republican Party loyalists, Benson garnered 52 percent of the votes, based on numbers from the Spokane County elections office.

Although his campaign contributions totaled only a third of the $120,000 that Murray had raised, Benson was able to rally support by knocking on doors and promoting his experience — not just in the Legislature, but in life.

“What made the difference was the fact that I’ve been a banker, a small business owner and my military career,” said Benson, 45, the father of four. “It’s significant, especially when I’m compared to a 27-year-old who has worked for (Mayor) Jim West and that was pretty much it.”

“A lot of people were out there praying for me,” he added.

Murray – who served as West’s executive legislative assistant until he was appointed senator when West was elected mayor of Spokane — wasn’t giving up yet.

“We’re still optimistic and we’re feeling good,” said Murray, who partied with supporters Tuesday night at the Davenport Hotel.

The Spokane native said he and his staff worked incredibly hard during the last 2½ weeks of the campaign. Their efforts likely will be reflected when the remaining absentee ballots are counted, he said.

The winner of this Republican primary faces a formidable opponent in the November elections. Democrat Laurie Dolan knows what it takes to campaign in the 6th District. The 52-year-old retired educator ran for the same Senate seat two years ago. She lost to Jim West by only 1,300 votes in what ended up becoming the most expensive legislative race in state history.

If she wins, she would be the first Democrat to be elected in the 6th District in nearly six decades.

“I’m looking forward to a spirited campaign,” said Dolan, who noted that she and Benson are “two distinctly different choices” for voters. “People want economic opportunity in Spokane and I have 30 years of experience helping families and kids in the city. I’m uniquely qualified to bring them that leadership.”

3rd District

David Stevens, a deputy prosecutor in Spokane County, was headed to a victory in the Republican primary race for 3rd District Position 1 House seat.

Stevens, 42, was outpolling James Holschen Jr., 26, a manager at Arctic Circle Restaurant at Third and Cedar.

Stevens will face incumbent Democrat Alex Wood, who is completing his fourth two-year term in the House. Wood is a former broadcast journalist in Spokane.

“I fight for Spokane in courtrooms every day,” said Stevens, “and I’ll fight for Spokane in the Legislature.”

Stevens said the 3rd District is heavily affected by crime. He is emphasizing reform of the criminal justice system in his campaign, calling for increased supervision of drug offenders and thieves, as well as deferred prosecution and treatment.

“I’m not one of those guys who is saying, ‘Lock them all up’.”

Holschen said he will support Stevens and probably run again in two years. “We need change,” Holschen said.

There were no primary contests in the two other 3rd District races.

In November, incumbent Sen. Lisa Brown will square off against Mike Casey, a dentist who previously practiced in Newport and now treats patients at Pine Lodge Corrections Center. Brown began her legislative career in 1992 and served two terms in the House before moving to the Senate in 1996, serving two terms there. She is Senate minority leader and an associate professor at Gonzaga University in organizational leadership.

In the Position 2 House seat, Rep. Timm Ormsby, a Democrat, will stand his first legislative election against Republican Ryan Leonard. Ormsby was appointed in 2003 to fill an unexpired term of former Rep. Jeff Gombosky. Leonard ran and lost against Gombosky in 2000. Leonard is a telephone service representative. Ormsby is a union official.

7th District

Okanogan County resident Joel Kretz had a commanding lead in incomplete election night returns for the Republican primary in the race for the 7th District House seat being vacated by fellow Republican Cathy McMorris.

Kretz also had a commanding lead in fund raising, with more than $27,500 in the most recent Public Disclosure Commission reports.

But Pend Oreille County Commissioner Mike Hanson, despite an old rift with party officials and almost no fund raising, held second place in early returns. Lincoln County Republican Sue Lani Madsen was slightly behind Hanson despite an aggressive campaign that collected more than $13,000.

Another surprise outcome was shaping up on the Democratic primary for that position. Orient, Wash., Democrat Dennis Kelley held a slight lead over Nespelem, Wash., rival Yvette Joseph in early returns — even though he had taken himself out of the race.

Kelley bowed out of the race too late to have his name removed from the ballot after learning that federal law prohibited him from running for partisan office. He is a Forest Service vehicle maintenance worker in Colville, and faced loss of his job if he had continued to campaign.

State election officials say only a court can remove Kelley’s name from the general election ballot if he wins the primary.

In the Democratic primary for the 7th District House seat being defended by Republican Bob Sump, Spokane County resident Jack Miller had a better than 2-1 lead over Okanogan County resident Michael “Buffalo” Mazzetti.

Sump and Libertarian candidate Dave Wordinger, of Spokane County, were unopposed in their primaries. It appeared questionable, however, that Wordinger would receive the number of votes needed to advance to the general election.

9th District

Voters in the 9th Legislative District had just one race to decide, but with five Republicans vying for State House Position 2, choosing a candidate may not have been easy.

It was a close contest in the six-county district, but David Buri of Colfax finished the evening ahead. The former legislative aide to state Sen. Larry Sheahan carried on a strong campaign and garnered a wide range of endorsements from business, law enforcement and agriculture interests.

“At this point, it’s too close to call for my comfort level,” said Buri, shortly before the final results were in.

At first, rancher Steve Hailey of Mesa in Franklin County led the contest, taking the lion’s share of the votes in Franklin and Adams counties. But that was before the results from Buri’s home territory, Whitman County, started coming in close to 10 p.m.

All the while, Jeff Phelps, a finance director at Washington State University, hung in as third and then rose to second thanks to strong support in Asotin and Spokane counties, finishing the evening about 210 votes behind Buri.

Besides Hailey and Phelps, Buri’s opponents included Lloyd Wengeler, a rental property developer and owner from Cheney, and Michael Echanove, the mayor of Palouse.

In the general election, Buri will face Democrat Eileen Macoll, a real estate sales associate from Pullman. Their campaign issues will likely include funding for higher education since the 9th District includes both Washington State University and Eastern Washington University.

Running to keep state House Position 1 is incumbent Republican Don Cox, who will face challenger Democrat Sean Gallegos, a Web page designer from Pullman. Legislative veteran Mark Schoesler, the former Republican state representative for seat 2, is running for the district’s senate seat against perennial candidate and Libertarian John Gearhart of Palouse and Democrat Gail Rowland, a retiree from WSU. Besides Buri, all the other 9th District candidates slated for the November ballot ran uncontested in the primary.