Local elections up in the air

SANDPOINT — “It’s going to be a long night.”

The phrase was uttered frequently by Bonner County election volunteers and clerks on Tuesday night.

As of 10:44 p.m., only two of the county’s 33 polling precinct had been tallied due to an active write-in campaign for a seat on the county commission.

Incumbent Republican Sheriff Daryl Wheeler and District 3 county commission GOP nominee Cary Kelly got off to the strongest starts in local races.

Wheeler 675 votes to Constitution candidate Rocky Jordan’s 192 votes. Kelly had 665 votes and incumbent Commissioner Lewis Rich’s write-in campaign had amassed 101 votes.

Bonner County Clerk Marie Scott advised voters in September that Rich’s write-in candidacy would delay Election Day results. The county’s ballot-counting machine is programmed to detect write-in selections although it can’t read the name listed by the voter, which forced those ballots to be counted by hand.

Rich won the Republican nomination from incumbent Karl Dye in the 2006 primary, prompting Dye to mount a write-in campaign in the general election. The final count in that election didn’t come until Wednesday afternoon.

In the District 1 county commission race, GOP nominee Joyce Broadsword was leading independent Steve Johnson 567-315. Broadsword defeated incumbent Cornel Rasor in the primary.

Incumbent Republican Prosecutor Louis Marshall held slim leads over independent challengers Tevis Hull and Michael Waldrup. Marshall had 381 votes and Hull and Waldrup had 278 and 199 votes, respectively.

No results were reported for the local option tax measures in the cities of Sandpoint and Ponderay.

Magistrate Court Judge Barbara Buchanan

A ballot question on retaining Magistrate Court Judge Barbara Buchanan was running 725 in favor keeping her on the bench and 141 against.