Marianne Nichols holds on to Pend Oreille County auditor seat

Not much changed between the primary and general elections for Pend Oreille County auditor as incumbent Marianne Nichols retained her seat for a fifth term, beating challenger Tamara Newman.

Nichols has 70.7% of the vote while Newman has 27.7%. All votes had been counted as of Thursday.

Newman narrowed the margin only slightly since the primary, which had her at 25% and Nichols at 72%.

Nichols was first elected in 2006 and ran unopposed in the last three elections.

“It was an interesting experience” having an opponent again, she said. “When you have to work hard for something, it makes you appreciate it more.”

She said she is excited to continue serving the community.

Newman, who has questioned the results of the 2020 election, ran to resolve her questions about perceived election vulnerabilities.

“Whether I win or lose doesn’t matter,” Newman said previously. “I’m not going to quit trying to expose what’s going on in our county.”

In the deeply conservative county, Newman had the backing of the Pend Oreille County Republicans, while Nichols was endorsed by the other elected county officials, all of whom are Republicans.

The Public Disclosure Commission dismissed a complaint last week filed by county Republican chair William Deilke against Nichols for allegedly not reporting costs for her campaign signs. Nichols responded that all of her signs were reused from previous elections and were therefore exempt from reporting again. The PDC found no evidence of a violation.