Nelson, Hart Survive Write-In Tests

Longtime County Clerk Dan English fell — heavily — to his Republican opponent, former Post Falls Police Chief Cliff Hayes. Democrat Jody DeLuca Hissong, who has served as deputy coroner for 27 years, was blitzed by Republican Deb Wilkey. Another race that was assured a Republican winner failed to produce the tension some anticipated. Primary County Commission winner Jai Nelson had no trouble defeating fellow Republican and write-in candidate Rick Currie. The other write-in race was also a yawner: state Rep. Phil Hart easily beat fellow Republican Howard Griffiths/ Coeur d’Alene Press . More here . Final numbers in contested Kootenai County courthouse races here . Final numbers in Kootenai County legislative races here .

• For the record, Tom Taggart guessed closest to final percentages that the write-ins would win. Tom said 25% for Howard Griffiths, 20% for Rick Currie. Griffiths & Currie won 25% & 18% of the vote, respectively.

Question: Does Phil Hart’s easy victory over a write-in candidate mean that voters don’t care about his tax/timber problems?