Stockwell throws in the towel; Fagan, Hailey on November ticket

Ritzville Democrat Glenn Stockwell, who was 324 votes short of qualifying for the general election Tuesday, said he’s convinced he will finish in third and will not seek a recount of the primary election votes in the 9th district.

Susan Fagan of Pullman and Pat Hailey of Mesa, leaders of the five-candidate field on election night, had built their margins with subsequent counts of mailed ballots in the six-county 9th district.

Both are Republicans, a format possible under the state’s new primary format.

“I really appreciate all the people that voted for me and showed me support,” said Stockwell. “But the way the ballots came down, I don’t see my campaign going further.”

Fagan topped returns with 6,465 votes, good for 29 percent of the total. Hailey received 5,687 votes in the district, and Stockwell garnered 5,363, a difference of 1.46 percent.

The total count as of Tuesday was 22,091.

Under state law, a recount would not be automatic. One of the requirements for a mandatory recount is a difference of under one-half of one percent of the votes cast for both candidates.

Any candidate, party or group of five people can petition the Secretary of State for a recount at their expense within three business days of the certification of the election. Certification date for the primary is Sept. 2.

Stockwell, who had over 24 percent of the votes in the primary, said he would wait to endorse a candidate for the general election He pledged to push the candidates on his pet issue, completion of the federal government’s Columbia Basin water storage project.

“I see both women have a lot of things going for them,” he said. “Susan has a long history in government, and Pat has many admirable qualities. So I’m just going to keep moving forward on this, and I’m going to ask them to support it.”

Stockwell, who ran as a Republican in 2006, said the all-GOP matchup is likely what the voters of the district wanted.

“I don’t know how I would have done come November,” he said. “I probably would have gotten more Republicans to cross over and vote for me, but I think it would have been close to the same amount of votes.”

Stockwell campaigned without an official endorsement from district and state Democrats.

“It’s been 70 years since there was a Democrat elected here,” he said. “And the way I was treated by the party folks in Whitman County, and the way they were over there, they’re kind of acting self-destructive.”