Grant County Sheriff’s race close in unofficial primary results Tuesday
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 months, 1 week AGO
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | August 5, 2026 11:03 AM
EPHRATA — The Grant County Sheriff’s race was neck-and-neck with a 0.2 percent gap when voting closed yesterday, according to the Grant County Auditor’s Office.
Darrick Gregg led incumbent Sheriff Joey Kriete by a mere six votes, 2,818 to 2,812, in unofficial primary results released by the auditor’s office Tuesday evening. GCSO Sgt. Josh Sainsbury, with 2,088 votes, was eliminated from the general election in November.
Republican Amanda McKinney, with 25,663 votes, and Democrat John Duresky, who received 22,657 votes, were the top two out of a field of 11 candidates seeking to replace Rep. Dan Newhouse as U.S. representative for Washington’s Fourth Congressional District. The nearest runner-up was Republican Jerrod Sessler, with 10,426 votes.
In the Fifth Congressional District, incumbent Republican Michael Baumgartner held a comfortable lead over his general election opponent, Democrat Carmela Conroy, 54,205-23,536.
In the race for Alex Ybarra’s Washington State House of Representatives District 13 seat, Republican Deanna Martinez held a lead of about 300 votes over fellow Republican Joshua Thompson.
Turnout was low for the primary, with only 16 percent of Grant and Adams County voters submitting a ballot.
Tuesday’s primary election results were only preliminary, as ballots are still coming in, according to the Grant County Auditor’s Office website. They will be updated at 5 p.m. today and officially certified Aug. 18. Unofficial results for all races can be found at results.votewa.gov.
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”