Primary night results preface hotly contested race for Spokane County Commission

Tuesday’s primary had no impact on who would advance to the November election in the race to represent southwestern Spokane County on the county commission.

But initial results show just how hotly contested the race may be this November.

Political newcomer Molly Marshall holds a narrow lead over longtime incumbent Al French in the race for the District 5 seat on the Board of County Commissioners. The district includes the upper South Hill, Latah Valley, Airway Heights, Medical Lake, Cheney and the rest of the West Plains.

Marshall, an Air National Guard veteran and neighborhood advocate, secured 50.7% of the first tally, while French had around 49%. The two were separated by only 48 votes Tuesday night.

As of Wednesday, Marshall led by just two dozen votes.

Marshall said she was excited about the early lead and looks forward to building on the momentum to secure the seat this fall. She believes voters in the district are ready for a change.

“Spokane County voters are sending a clear message that they just want a change in their government,” Marshall said. “I think people are tired of their homes being at risk for fire and polluted water and road problems, and we really need to get clean water, safe roads, wildfire safety and especially, responsible leadership.”

French said he expects to pull away with the lead once the count is finalized Aug. 20, as later batches of votes have tended to skew in his favor in past elections. He trailed his top challenger Maggie Yates, a Democrat, by around 3% in the 2022 primary, before going on to win by about the same amount in the general election.

“For me, this is frequent territory,” French said. “It is not unusual for me to be tied or behind in the early ballots. Typically, Democrats vote early and Republicans vote later.”

French said he looks forward to “the real race now, the next 90 days.”

That race will likely center around the issues front of mind for district residents: public safety, development and the ongoing saga of the PFAS-contaminated waters on the West Plains.

The latter has been an area of focus in recent months, as French and Marshall have presented their own plans to address the issue and criticized each other’s plans.

Critics of French, including Marshall, say he has not done enough to serve those in the district affected by the contamination and was not forthcoming when it was first discovered.

French countered those claims in an interview last month, saying they’re nothing more than political attacks levied by those who wish to prevent him from being re-elected.

Marshall is the only candidate challenging one of the three sitting commissioners up for re-election this year. Commissioners Josh Kerns and Chris Jordan are running unopposed.

Around 24,000 ballots county-wide still need to be counted, according to the Spokane County Elections Office.