Thousands of ballots still need to be counted in Tri-Cities

Victors in Tuesday’s general election are holding their leads as ballot counting continues in the Tri-Cities.

Election officials in Benton County have counted 90,158 ballots of 126,138 registered voters, for a return rate of 71 percent. They estimate having 15,000 ballots in hand that still need to be processed.

Franklin County has seen a 73-percent return rate with 30,418 ballots counted of 41,902 registered voters, according to data on the state Secretary of State’s website. Officials believe they still have 1,700 ballots to process.

Across the entire state, 3.6 million ballots have been counted, meaning 73 percent of the state’s 4.9 million registered voters cast their ballots by Election Day.

An unofficial Vote Washington site that uses official state ballot data says Benton County’s voter turnout may be as high as 82 percent, with Franklin County at 78 percent.

There are an estimated 410,072 outstanding ballots statewide.

Final results will be certified Nov. 24.

In the race to replace Judge Bruce Spanner’s soon-to-be vacant seat on the Benton-Franklin Superior Court, lawyer Dave Petersen gained 6,000 more votes for a total 64,699, or 60 percent. His challenger, state Sen. Sharon Brown, is at 39 percent with 42,138 votes.

Incumbent Commissioners Jerome Delvin in Benton County and Brad Peck in Franklin County will continue their work on their respective boards next year.

Delvin, a Republican, maintains a 24-percent lead with 52,874 votes over Democratic challenger Justin Raffa, who has 32,569.

Delvin’s colleague, Benton County Commission Chairman Jim Beaver, lost his position after three terms. His challenger, Will McKay, has 47,014 votes to Beaver’s 30,367.

Across the Columbia River, three-term Republican Peck has 12,805 votes to Democratic challenger Kim Lehrman’s 11,188.

In the race for retiring Chairman Bob Koch’s seat, Rocky Mullen, a Republican, has a 20-percent lead over Democrat Ana Ruiz Peralta. Mullen shows 17,506 votes to Peralta’s 11,613.

For the Franklin County Public Utility District, Commissioner Bill Gordon is returning for another term with 67 percent of the vote compared to challenger Casey Cochrane’s 33 percent.

And for the Benton County PUD, Commissioner Jeff Hall retained his post with 30,331 votes to the 20,950 that went to Pat Tucker.