Lewis County Sirens.com

Lewis County prosecutor candidate Jonathan Meyer looks at the primary election preliminary results shortly after 8 p.m. tonight at the Lewis County Auditors Office.

Incumbent Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden looks over the primary preliminary results just after 8 p.m. tonight.

Don’t know for sure.

But the difference is small and I’m not going to phone Gary Zandell and ask about it at this time of night.

I’m looking at the hard copy handed out in the Lewis County Auditors Office printed at 8:07 p.m. tonight, and presumably the same hard copy as was passed out to the many folks who gathered there tonight.

The number of votes each candidate got, for the races I’m looking at, are the same on this hard copy as they are on the web site through the Auditors Office. But each of them show a slightly higher percentage online.

I suspect it has something to do with what Zandell and his people call under votes and over votes. It’s related to ballots in which a voter might ignore a race or where they might inadvertently …. do something else, or some such thing.

More ballots, such as the ones put in the mail today, will be tallied on Friday. The primary election will be certified Sept. 1.

Look at the results in more detail here.

Two Republicans are hoping to step in to the job of Lewis County coroner; longtime elected Coroner Terry Wilson decided not to run again.

They are Chehalis resident Warren McLeod, 51, and Mossyrock resident Micheal Hurley, 69.

McLeod has received 51.40 percent of the votes cast and counted, while Hurley has gotten 47.62 percent.

Q: What do these numbers tell you?

A: McLeod: “I’m very happy with these numbers, as I’ve only been in the county 18 months,” McLeod said. “Some people call me an outsider, I prefer to say newcomer. It gives me more incentive to work hard and get the message out before November.”

A: Hurley: “They say to me my opponent has picked up a bit of strong support in the Twin Cities,” Hurley said. “I’m just going to have to work harder in the Twin Cities to win the election.”

* Hurley had a prepared statement not reflected here.

Colleen Morse, chair of the Lewis County Republican Party, said the seven-member executive board will meet soon and decide whether to support any candidates in the contested races where there are two Republicans running for the November general election.

“It’s failed,” Zandell said.

The Napavine-area fire district asked for a fire levy lid increase and 66.73 percent of voters said no; while 33.27 percent said yes.

They’ve already put in a request to run a measure on the November ballot, Zandell said.

Q: What do these numbers tell you?

A: “It’s so unofficial,” Zandell said.

The county has more than 42,000 registered voters and these numbers reflect about 36.6 percent of registered voter’s votes.

There are many more ballots to be counted.

Zandell predicts a final turnout for this primary to be between 38 percent and 40 percent.

In the race for Lewis County sheriff, challenger sheriff’s Sgt. Ken Cheeseman has 40.87 percent of the votes cast and counted; Incumbent Sheriff Steve Mansfield has 58.40 percent.

Q: What do these numbers tell you?

A: “Everything’s pre-season until now, this is when the real thing starts,” Mansfield said. “The difference between myself and my opponent; I think it says the people like what I’ve been doing.”

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To read Lewis County Sirens’ June 26, 2010 story about the two men running for Lewis County sheriff, click here

In the race for Lewis County sheriff, challenger sheriff’s Sgt. Ken Cheeseman has 40.87 percent of the votes cast and counted; Incumbent Sheriff Steve Mansfield has 58.40 percent.

Q: What do these numbers tell you?

A: “Not too bad, I’m pretty pleased with them, they’re pretty close,” Cheeseman said. “They say that it’s within reach. The race is within reach.”

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To read Lewis County Sirens’ June 26, 2010 story about the two men running for Lewis County sheriff, click here