County races still too close to call

With 6,500 ballots left to count, two races for county commissioner seats in Okanogan County are still up in the air.

The county’s election department issued the latest count taken Monday afternoon, which showed fewer than 700 votes separating the contenders for both District 1 and District 2 commission seats.

Current District 1 Commissioner Sheilah Kennedy, who represents this southern end of the county, is trailing challenger Chris Branch by just 667 votes, 5,575 to 4,908.

In the race for the District 2 seat to represent the western half of the county, Andy Hover is leading Ashley Thrasher 5,554 to 4,879.

The “Estimated Ballots Left to Count” does not include ballots that may continue to be received in the mail with a postmark on or before Election Day, or ballots with signature issues that must be corrected before they can be counted.

The county auditor’s office puts the county turnout at 50.27 percent so far, with 10,512 votes counted to date.

Okanogan County’s next vote count will be taken on Thursday.

In Grant County, Superior Court Judge David Estudillo appears to have kept the job he was appointed to by Gov. Jay Inslee over a year ago.

Estudillo garnered 51.6 percent of the vote with 13,817 ballots cast for him, edging out Nick Wallace’s 12,959 votes for 48.4 percent of those cast.

Richard Stevens won by a large margin against Bob Dove in District 1.

The county auditor’s office estimates only 50 ballots left to count in the office and that 75.5 percent of Grant County voters turned out.

The next count will be taken on Nov. 29, the date the election is certified in the state of Washington.