With only around 2,000 votes left count in Spokane's 3rd Legislative District, Republican Tim Benn nearly has a lock on a second-place finish to compete for a state House seat in the November election.

Democrat Marcus Riccelli easily topped the four other candidates running for the seat, but Benn and Democrats Bob Apple and Jon Snyder were within 100 votes of each other for the right to move on with Riccelli iin the general election after the first round of counting on Tuesday.

In Wednesday's count, Benn surged and now has a lead of more than 400 over Snyder and more than 500 over Apple. The third round of counting will be completed later today.