Lewis County coroner candidate Warren McLeod talks with supporters after learning the election numbers Tuesday night. Next to him is Maleea Morales, a Centralia fifth-grader who got school credit for assisting with McLeod's campaign
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
This news story was updated with a concession from Hurley at 9:10 a.m. today Wednesday Nov. 3, 2010
CHEHALIS – Lewis County will be getting a new coroner after almost 30 years and it looks like it will be Warren McLeod.
Community college instructor McLeod has captured almost 55 percent of the votes while retired DEA agent Micheal Hurley got just over 45 percent.
There are still more ballots to be counted, and Lewis County Auditor Gary Zandell says it “arithmetically possible” for the lead to switch.
McLeod however, was ecstatic.
“I have almost 55 percent of the vote, it means I got the message out,” he said Tuesday night at the Historic Courthouse in Chehalis.
The 51-year-old said he sees a lot of work ahead so he can hit the ground running in January. He said he doesn’t know yet what kind of transition outgoing coroner Terry Wilson is interested in.
He’ll work with Wilson, “as much as he’ll work with me,” McLeod said. “I’ll get in touch with him.”
McLeod worked at the corners office in Las Vegas, Nevada, for almost 10 years before moving to Chehalis in December 2008 when he took a job as a professor of forensics at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia.
Hurley, a Mossyrock resident, didn’t come to the courthouse to hear the ballot count.
Micheal Hurley
He said he was attending a a veterans function, a commitment he made some time ago. Hurley didn’t return a phone call for comment Tuesday night.
Hurley conceded this morning with the following brief message: “I lost, but won my freedom,” he wrote. “I met some very good people during this journey and met others who I am glad I don’t have to put up with for the next four years.”
With retired Centralia police officer Bradd Reynolds as his campaign manager, the 70-year-old raised $7,014, according to information available this weekend from the state Public Disclosure Commission. Hurley loaned $4,329 of that to his campaign.
McLeod has raised $6,247. His campaign manger Steve Carmick, retired Chehalis attorney, accompanied him to the courthouse tonight
The initial tally gives McLeod 10,346 votes and Hurley 8,477
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Read more about election night and the races for Lewis County sheriff and Lewis County prosecutor by scrolling down.
Look at all the preliminary election results available on the Auditors Office website.
Look up details on how much money each candidate has raised and spent by looking at PDC reports available from the Public Disclosure Commission.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Please send me actual copy, reference or links to any pre-election presentations, promises, ect. stated by Warren McLeod or his supporters.