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Chris Mulick has worked for the Herald since 1998 and has served as the statehouse correspondent covering state government and politics since 2000. He works year-round out of the Herald's Olympia bureau on the state Capitol campus. Have a question? Send Chris an e-mail and he'll answer the best questions regularly. |
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closeBenton County is expected to release updated primary election figures this afternoon, which could help clear up which Republican will advance to the general election with Democrat Carol Moser in a race for an open House seat in the 8th Legislative District.
Moser was getting 40 percent of the vote last night. Brad Klippert was getting 3,301 votes, or 18.6 percent, while Skip Novakovich was getting 3,022 votes, or 17 percent, and two other Republicans — Rick Jansons and Steve Simmons — were farther back.
But today’s numbers will only include votes from ballots received by the county auditor’s office through Monday. That means ballots mailed Monday and Tuesday will still be left uncounted.
“Quite a few,” Auditor Bobbie Gagner said.
Novakovich said this morning he was a bit surprised it was Klippert who is slipping through the crowded Republican field and that it’s Simmons who is lagging behind. He said he’s observed Simmons campaigning hard.
As for Klippert, who hasn’t reported raising or spending any money for his campaign, “I don’t know what he really did,” Novakovich said.
I’ll update this post when new numbers come in.
UPDATE: The new numbers are in and Klippert has widened his lead from 279 votes to 345, picking up one-tenth of 1 percentage point in the process. He now has 3,722 votes, or 18.6 percent, to Novakovich’s 3,377 votes, or 16.9 percent.
"I'm proceeding with caution," said Klippert, a Benton County sheriff's deputy.
A new tally will be released tomorrow.
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