MOSES LAKE - Two-time board director candidate Mick Hansen was leading by 738 votes in the Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation Race, according to preliminary results.

Hansen's opponent, Bill Bailey, of Moses Lake, received 835 votes in the race for director Norm Benson's open seat, according to figures provided by Julie Smith, of the irrigation district. Hansen received 1,573 votes.

Absentee ballots are tallied on Monday and "challenged" ballots addressed at that time, she explained.

Hansen said he is waiting until the absentee ballots are counted.

"I'm not celebrating yet," he said. "Just smiling. They have a little less than half the vote counted. I'm not celebrating yet. There's a lot of big corporate votes coming in."

He estimated about 2,500 absentee ballots were remaining.

During last year's election, Hansen had a more than 500 vote lead against then opponent Ron Covey, but lost the race.

Hansen's challenger, Bailey, said he wasn't surprised about the initial results at all.

"It's very similar to what happened last year," Bailey said. "Where we hoped the majority support is with folks who have large blocks of votes. I know they'll be rolling in for another week or so."

Voters owning property within the district receive two votes per land parcel, according to state election law for the irrigation and rehabilitation district.

Bailey said he really appreciates the help he received from others.

"The whole process is really interesting," he said in part.

Bailey said the race had been "interesting and fun" to participate in.