Local primary election results in few surprises

OKANOGAN – While few local candidates faced challengers in the recent primary elections, there was one race, that for Okanogan County PUD Commissioner District 1, that drew three candidates, as well as incumbent David Womack.

Womack, who has served multiple terms in the position, got safely through to the upcoming general election by earning the highest number of votes at 441, according to the early, not yet certified, ballot count last Friday. That was enough to earn him 29.2 percent of the vote. His next closest competitor was Scott Vejraska, who will be sharing the ballot in November. Vejraska, an area rancher, got 408 votes, or 27.0 percent. Next was Steve Nearants with 340 votes and James Miller with 320.

The race for Okanogan County Coroner found David Rodriguez, Chief Criminal Deputy for the Okanogan County Sheriff’s office the lead vote getter with 2,184 or 60.6 percent of the vote. He was way out ahead of the next highest candidate, Gary V. Reams with 1,021 votes, or 22.04 percent, but that’s enough to get him to the general election. Anthony Frey came in third with 797 votes.

The Okanogan County County Assessors race had two candidates, incumbent Scott D. Furman, Democratic Party, and challenger, Les V. Stokes, Conservative Party. Furman garnered 3,062 ballots to Stoke’s 2,044. Both candidates will continue on to the general election in November.

The rest of county government will remain much the same with several incumbents running unchallenged this go around. These include Jim Detro, Commissioner Position 3; Karl F. Sloan, Prosecuting Attorney; Frank Rogers, Sheriff; Laurie Thomas, Auditor; Charleen Groomes, Clerk and Leah McCormack, Treasurer.

Okanogan County voters’ choice for Seventh District State Legislative office also carried few surprises. The county preferred incumbent state Senator Brian Dansel over fellow Republican Tony Booth by nearly 1000 votes. They also prefer incumbent Position 1 Representative Shelly Short, a Republican, to Libertarian James R. Apker, by over 1800 votes. Incumbent Position 2 Representative Joel Kretz, a Republican from Wauconda, continues to be the county favorite, by over 2000 votes. Each will face each other in the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

The next ballot count was scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 13 at 5 p.m. at the Okanogan County Auditor’s office. The ballot is set to be certified on Tuesday, Aug. 19.