Three prominent Spokane County legislative races still too close to call after second tally

It’s still unclear who Spokane and Spokane Valley voters will choose this November to represent them in the Washington State Legislature.

The race for the state House seat in the 3rd Legislative District being vacated by Rep. Marcus Riccelli, who’s moving on to the Senate next session, went virtually unchanged day to day.

Insurance professional Tony Kiepe, a Republican, was ahead of his two Democratic opponents with 34.3% of the votes as of Wednesday evening. He’s followed by former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart with 33.6% and Spokane attorney Natasha Hill with 31.9%.

The three candidates were separated by less than 500 votes Tuesday. Kiepe grew his lead over Stuckart by 66 votes in the second tally, and Stuckart distanced himself from Hill by 44 votes.

The top two candidates will face off in the general election in November. The Spokane County Elections Office estimates there are around 40,000 ballots countywide that still need to be counted.

Election results will be finalized Aug. 20.

4th Legislative District – Senate

Two Democrats have likely received enough votes to advance to the general election in two legislative races in Spokane Valley, but who their Republican opponents will be remains unclear.

As of Wednesday, law student and U.S. Army veteran Miguel Valencia continues to lead the crowd of six candidates vying to advance to the general election in the race for the state Senate seat in the 4th Legislative District. The seat was vacated by outgoing Sen. Mike Padden, who announced his retirement earlier this year.

The district includes Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Green Bluff and Elk, and has long been considered a Republican stronghold. Valencia, who’s received 22.9% of the votes counted so far, would face an uphill battle in November if he advances.

The majority of ballots counted so far are spread between the four Republicans seemingly vying for second place and hoping to keep the seat in their party’s control.

Rep. Leonard Christian had 21.1% of the vote as of Wednesday, followed by Valley businessman Mike Kelly with 19.4%. Christian’s lead over Kelly grew by 18 votes day to day. Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley and her fellow city council member Al Merkel round out the crowd of conservative candidates with 13.3% and 11.4%.

Democratic candidate Paige Scott has received 11.9% of the vote.

4th Legislative District – State Representative Pos. 2

Longtime Kaiser Aluminum employee and union advocate Ted Cummings, a Democrat, retained the lead in the second vote tally in the hotly contested race for the state House seat vacated by Christian.

Cummings’ lead dwindled slightly day to day, dropping from 25.8% of the vote to 25.5%, but he remains a few percentage points ahead of the field of mostly Republican candidates.

As of Wednesday, former Spokane County Treasurer and state Legislator Rob Chase would be Cummings’ possible opponent, with 23% of the vote.

Chase is followed closely by former Spokane Valley City Councilwoman and fellow Republican Brandi Peetz, who received 22.4% of the vote. Peetz cut Chase’s early lead of 179 votes by more than 30 day to day.

The other three candidates in the race are likely not going to advance to the general election, barring a major shift in the coming days.

Green Bluff rancher Michael Schmidt, a Republican, has received 16.1% of the vote. Ed Wood, former Spokane County Democratic Party Chair, and sasquatch hunter Stephen Major, a Republican, bring up the rear with 9.1% and 3.8%, respectively.