Mary Dye of Pomeroy will be coming back to Olympia next year, elected Tuesday night to keep the seat she filled through an appointment earlier this year.

Dye, 54, easily beat former Franklin County Sheriff Richard Lathim in the general election for the 9th District House seat that became vacant when Susan Fagan resigned this spring after questions surfaced about her expense accounts.

With all six counties in the Southeast Washington district reporting, Dye had a lead of nearly 2-to-1 over Lathim, polling 66 percent to his 34 percent.

"I'm just overwhelmed by the show of support," she said, and called her election an affirmation of the values of Eastern Washington, where people use the environment in a positive way.

"We're a hard working, productive people and we're part of the solution," she said.

She'll have to run again in 2016. 

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