Update: These Richland council candidates survived the Aug. 5 primary
Richland voters were advancing two of three city council incumbents to the November general election and ousting a third.
Preliminary results from the Aug. 5 primary showed both Ryan Whitten and Kurt Maier winning enough votes to advance.
Incumbent Sandra Kent, the city’s mayor pro tem, came in third in her race for Position 3 against challengers Pat Holten and Robert Walko.
Walko previously told the Tri-City Herald he was no longer in the race after learning he was ineligible after it was too late to withdraw his name from the ballot. But state law doesn’t allow Kent to be on the November ballot.
Four of seven city council seats were on the Aug. 5 ballot. Three races feature incumbents, and the fourth is open after former Mayor Ryan Lukson opted not to run again.
Benton County said it tallied 18,200 ballots by Friday morning. It projects there will be 5,000 additional ballots coming in from drop boxes and via mail, and will update the vote count late Friday afternoon. The election will be certified Aug. 19.
In Richland, the candidate who wins with the least number of votes in November receives a two-year term. The remaining candidates receive four-year terms. The quirky feature of Richland city government ensures a majority of the council is up for election every other year.
Under Richland’s council-manager form of government, the seven elected leaders serve as the ultimate budget and policymaking body. The council defers day-to-day management to the city manager, Jon Amundson, who reports to the council.
All seats are elected at large from throughout the city, though Richland voters have the option to adopt a district-based system in November.
Position 3
Incumbent Sandra Kent was losing to challengers Pat Holten and Robert Walko.
Holten received 3,925 votes and Walko 2,070, or 53% to 28%.
Kent, an attorney, filed to run for office in May but did not mount an active campaign and received only 1,400 votes, or 19% of the total cast.
Holten is active in Benton County Republican Party politics and is a long-time Richland resident, campaigning on preserving the city’s quality of life.
Walko is a cybersecurity engineer at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Even if he is ineligible due to the amount of time he’s lived in Richland, his name will appear with Holten’s in November.
Position 4
Donald Landsman, a seasoned community leader, and John Maier, a recent Hanford High School graduate, will advance to the November election for the seat being vacated by Lukson.
The race appeared on the primary ballot because a third candidate, Jordan Lee, filed for office.
Lee did not actively campaign before the primary.
Landsman received 4,404 votes to Maier’s 2,628, or 60% to 36%. Lee received 254 votes or about 3% of those cast.
Maier is the son of Kurt Maier, the incumbent councilman in Position 6.
Position 6
Incumbent Kurt Maier and challenger Kyle Saltz will advance to the November ballot after emerging first and second in the three-way race.
Maier received 3,306 votes to Saltz’s 2,910, or 45% to 39%.
A third candidate, Joshua Arnold, received 1,184 votes or 16% of the total.
Maier is a software engineer at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Saltz works for the Hanford Patrol.
Maier and Saltz are both Army veterans.
Position 7
Incumbent Ryan Whitten will face challenger Colin Michael in the November general. Whitten received 2,696 votes to Michael’s 1,829, or 37% to 25%.
Two other candidates did not survive the primary, Joshua Short and Tony Sanchez.
Whitten is an instrument technician at Energy Northwest. Michael works on safety and regulatory compliance at the Hanford site.
Whitten is a Navy veteran. Michael is an Army veteran.
This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 9:03 PM.