Hart dominating Connell council race

By Roger Harnack
Franklin Connection

Hart dominating Connell council race

Hebel, Hallman in dead heat for second place

Last updated 8/1/2023 at 9:28pm

CONNELL — Candidate Preston Hart has a commanding lead in the Aug. 1 primary election race for City Council Position No. 5. but it's a dead heat to see who will be the runner-up.

After the end of the first day of counting Tuesday, Hart had 108 votes, or 51.92%. His count exceeded the tally for the remaining two candidates, Patrice Hebel and Stephanie Hallman.

The women were tied for second with 48 votes each, or 23.08%.

Election officials said late-arriving ballots should break the tie before the election is certified Aug. 15.

Only the Top 2 candidates advance to the Nov. 7 general election.

The Franklin County Auditor's Office Election Department sent ballots to 1,184 registered voters in Connell. So, there are a potential 976 ballots that could still be counted.

An estimated 51 late-arriving ballots are already in-house and will be counted in the coming days.

So far, Connell voter turnout is only 17.65%, the Elections Department reported.

Author Bio

Roger Harnack, Publisher

Roger Harnack is the co-owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.

Email: [email protected]
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Twitter: @RogerHarnack