Rasor, Wheeler off to early leads

SANDPOINT — Bonner County commission candidate Cornel Rasor and sheriff’s candidate Daryl Wheeler held onto early leads their bids to secure Republican nominations.

Final results were tabulated just before 1 a.m.

With all of the county’s 33 precincts reporting, Rasor tallied 2,310 votes. The other GOP challenger for the District 1 nomination, John Reuter, had 1,998 votes.

Wheeler, meanwhile, steadily added to a sizable lead built early in the night over the other four Republicans competing in the sheriff’s primary. When the final ballots were counted, Wheeler had collected 2,093 votes, while former Sheriff Chip Roos had 757 votes. Incumbent Sheriff Elaine Savage had 853 votes, former Deputy Geoff Rusho had 901 votes and current Deputy Rocky Jordan had 471.

Democrat Larry Hanna, who’s unopposed in the primary, amassed 960 votes after ballots were counted.

Brian Orr, a former District 2 commissioner seeking to regain his seat, edged Patty Palmer 7890569 for the Democrat nod.

Incumbent District 1 Commissioner Todd Crossett (D) and incumbent District 2 Commissioner Joe Young (R), both of whom are unopposed in the primary, had 1,259 votes and 3,504 votes, respectively.

Louis Marshall, a chief deputy prosecutor running to succeed Prosecutor Phil Robinson, had 3,321 votes with all precincts reporting.

In the presidential race, Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton 890-551 for the Democrat nomination in Bonner County. John McCain had 2,950 votes to Ron Paul’s 1,427 in the GOP contest.