French hangs on for general election

A final vote count in last month’s primary election, to be certified today, didn’t turn around any races or trigger an automatic recount.

Republican county commissioner candidate Al French retained a narrow lead Tuesday over Republican Jeff Holy and will advance to the Nov. 2 general election. French will face incumbent Democrat Bonnie Mager.

Mager collected nearly 46.3 percent of the vote, compared with French’s 17.4 percent and Holy’s 17 percent. Republicans Steve Salvatori and David Elton finished with 15.5 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

Auditor Vicky Dalton said the 113-vote spread between Holy and French was too great for an automatic recount. State law requires a recount only if the difference is less than 2,000 votes or one-half percent – 52 votes in this case.

However, until 4 p.m. Tuesday, a paid recount may be requested by Holy, a political party or a group of five registered voters. Holy couldn’t be reached for comment, but Spokane County Republican Party Chairwoman Cindy Zapotocky said the party won’t seek a recount.

Republican county treasurer candidate Rob Chase received several times the number of write-in votes – 1 percent of the total – required to appear on the general election ballot against incumbent Democrat Skip Chilberg.

John Craig