Benton incumbents advancing to November after tight races. One challenger is leading

Benton County Commissioners Jim Beaver and Jerome Delvin appear to have made the November ballot following very tight races Tuesday night.

However, the yet-to-be counted returns could change that with large numbers in favor of their challengers.

The top two vote-getters, regardless of their party, will face off in the general election in November.

Commissioners serve 4-year terms and make $112,000.

Beaver drew two challengers in this year’s primary — Will McKay and Joe Lusignan. All three are Republicans.

Beaver represents District 3, which includes Kennewick. He’s been on the board since January 2009, after serving on the Kennewick City Council for 18 years, including 12 years as mayor.

Beaver currently is the commission chairman.

Following Tuesday’s initial count, he received 2,342 votes, or 35 percent. McKay holds the second spot with 2,207 votes, or 33 percent, while Lusignan got 2,079 votes, or 31 percent.

McKay owns McKay Construction. Lusignan is retired from the Benton County Sheriff’s Department is is the deputy director of the Young Marines.

District 1

Incumbent Jerome Delvin and his Democrat challenger Justin Raffa had the lead Tuesday night in the race to see who would be on the ballot for Benton County Commissioner District 1.

Delvin, a Republican, was opposed by three other Republicans and Raffa, the lone Democrat running for the position.

Raffa, professional musician, received 35% of the votes, or 3,445. Delvin trailed him with 26% of the votes, or 2,612.

In third place, with more ballots to be counted in the coming days, was Michael Alvarez, a Richland city councilman and mortgage company owner, with 23% of the votes, or 2,319.

Also running were Jeff J. Smart, owner of a real estate brokerage, with 9% of the votes, or 841, and Donnie Landsman, a project manager, with 7% of the votes, or 655.

Delvin, a former state Senator and former police officer, has been a county commissioner since 2013.

He said his experience in the state Legislature for more than 18 years helps him with similar water, agriculture, energy and land use issues at the county level. He advocates for keeping property taxes as low as possible.

Raffa, the artistic director of the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers and chorusmaster of the Yakima Symphony Orchestra, said his administrative work has given him experience with budgets.

He would responsibly manage taxpayer money, increase public comment at meetings, build bridges with neighboring jurisdictions and advocate for Hanford commuter safety, he said.

This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 9:30 PM.