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Anyone hoping updated vote totals this week would bring any new developments in the general election results likely remains disappointed.
Despite some fluctuations here and there, the end result is still the same. The current slate of the of Spokane Valley City Council members has been upended under a wave of “Positive Change.”
Tuesday, when about 8,000 votes were processed – nearly all that remain – more or less sealed the Nov. 3 election, which doesn’t become officially certified until Nov. 24. The next vote count will be conducted Nov. 23.
While none of the Spokane Valley council races were particularly close – Brenda Grassel actually widened her 800-some vote lead over incumbent Diana Wilhite to about 1,500 in the narrowest one – there was some question if late ballot-casters could tweak the results in any way. But, more or less, the votes continued to favor those affiliated with Positive Change, a local group that wishes to overhaul the council’s Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan and curb any perceived unnecessary budgetary expenses.
State Sen. Bob McCaslin remained steady with a nearly 59-percent edge on incumbent Mayor Rich Munson. McCaslin -- who, at 83, plans on being on both the council and serving the 4th District in the Legislature -- actually nearly doubled the amount of votes he was leading by as the additional votes were tallied.
There were also no shakeups in Dean Grafos’ challenge of council-appointee Ian Robertson at Position 2. Robertson actually gained nearly a percentage point, but Grafos totaled nearly more votes than Robertson and additional challengers Ed Foote and Edward Pace combined. Grafos joins the council in December after the votes have been certified.
In Spokane Valley, 23,543, or just under 50 percent of the ballots mailed out, were returned.
Elsewhere, Josh Beckett moved farther ahead of Cristella Kaminskas, who only trailed by 65 votes on Election Day. Beckett had nearly 55 percent and a 157-vote edge on Tuesday.
Odin Langford retained his 60-percent lead over challenger Jason Adelman in Liberty Lake’s other council race.
In Millwood, mayoral challenger Dennis Hamlin – a late-entry write-in candidate – received 43 votes against incumbent Dan Mork, who has 424.
Another write-in challenger, Jeff Baxter, got one out of every four votes in his campaign against incumbent Robert Dompier for West Valley school board. Dompier, with 3,019 votes, will keep his seat – but Baxter’s aggressive campaign was noteworthy.
There were no seismic changes in an of the other local school board elections.
The only real close races near Spokane Valley are farther outside of town.
John Zingg edges Allen Crist by 42 votes in a Freeman school board contest. And, in Fairfield, Brian Kauffman leads Karrie Stewart 92-84 for Town Council.
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By
Mike Huffman
