Just 34 votes decided who will square off with Richland Mayor Bob Thompson this fall

Richland voters will choose this fall between Lillian “Randy” Slovic and Mayor Bob Thompson for a seat on the city council.

The Benton County Auditor certified results of the Aug. 6 primary this week.

Thompson was the clear leader in the Position 1 race, but the slim margin between Slovic and third-place finisher made the race close to call until the end.

Thompson received 2,666 votes and Slovic had 2,025.

Slovic defeated Kalen Finn by 34 votes, leading to speculation of a possible recount.

However, Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton said the Slovic-Kalen race fell outside the 0.5 percent margin that triggers an automatic recount.

The 34-vote difference translated to a 0.84 percentage point difference when only the votes cast for those two candidates are counted.

A fourth candidate, Wendi Warner, received 1,841 votes.

The certified results did not change the outcome of any of the other primary races, which determine who will advance to the Nov. 5 general election.

Only races with three or more candidates appeared on the primary ballot.

• In other Richland council races, incumbent Phillip Lemley and challenger Lisa Thomas advance to the general, as do incumbent Brad Anderson and challenger Shir Regev.
• For Kennewick City Council, appointed incumbent Chuck Torelli and challenger Chariss Warner advance to the general, as do Brad Beauchamp and Ed Pacheco, and Jim Millbauer and Russel Del Gesso.
• For Pasco City Council, Zahra Roach and Patrick Guettner advance.
• For Kennewick School Board, Ron Mabry and Wende Carlisle advance, as do Michael Connors and James Langford, and Diane Sunkvik and Patrick Mastaler.
• For Richland School Board, Kari Williams and Jay Clough advance, as do Jill Oldson and Rama Devagupta.

Full results are posted at sos.wa.gov/elections/

This story was originally published August 22, 2019 at 10:13 AM.