Close race for sheriff emerges in early GC primary balloting
Initial voter turnout only 15.8%.
EPHRATA — A tight race is emerging for Grant County sheriff with challenger Darrik Gregg leading incumbent Joey Kriete by six votes, 2,818 to 2,812, based on unofficial returns posted Tuesday night by county elections officials. A second challenger, Josh Sainsbury, trails with 2,088 votes.
Results from Tuesday’s primary will be certified Aug. 18. The top two candidates advance to the Nov. 3 general election.
Kriete, from Moses Lake, is seeking a second four-year term as sheriff. Gregg is a sergeant with the Moses Lake Police Department, and Sainsbury, from Ephrata, is a sergeant with the sheriff’s office — both are former GCSO chief deputies. All three candidates are Republicans.
Thus far, turnout for the primary appears minimal, sitting at only 15.8% of the county’s 52,957 registered voters, but that percentage is expected to increase somewhat.
Other contested county primary races with three or more candidates on Tuesday’s ballot included:
Auditor: Shannon Falstad of Ephrata currently leads with 46.3% of the vote over Darci Homesley (28.4%) and Andrew Koeppen (24.4%), both of Moses Lake. Falstad was appointed as interim auditor by county commissioners following the retirement of incumbent Michele Jaderlund in June. All are Republicans.
Commissioner, Third District: This became an open race when incumbent Cindy Carter of Royal City opted not to seek re-election. Voting in the primary is limited to residents within the district, which covers the southwest portion of the county. In preliminary tallies, Kelly Raap of rural Ephrata holds a 74-vote lead, 699-625, over Shannon Durfee of Quincy. Trailing are two other candidates, Janice Flynn of Royal City (347) and Seth Weeks of Mattawa (260). All are Republicans.
Superior Court Judge, Position 3: Interim appointee Judge Jennifer Richardson trails by 217 votes, 2,602 to 2,385, behind private practice attorney Ken Chadwick. A third candidate, county deputy prosecutor Trevor Bevier, has received 2,143 votes. Richardson, a former state assistant Attorney General, was appointed to the Grant County bench in January by Gov. Bob Ferguson to fill a vacancy. The nonpartisan position carries a two-year unexpired term.
One local money measure was on the primary ballot for voters within Grant County Public Hospital District No. 5, which operates the Mattawa Community Medical Clinic. A proposition to raise the district’s property tax “levy lid” needs a simple-majority vote for passage, but was failing with only 32.3% of the vote on Tuesday.
Grant County voters also factored into two regional races in central Washington.
In the state’s 13th Legislative District contest for the Position 2 House seat, Deanna Martinez of Moses Lake holds a 326-vote lead, 5,446 to 5,120, over Josh Thompson of Ellensburg. A third candidate, Don Myers of Moses Lake, trails with 4,013 votes. The three Republicans are vying to succeed current state Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, who is running for the state Senate position held by longtime incumbent Judy Warnick of Moses Lake. Warnick is not seeking re-eection.
And in the 4th Congressional District, Yakima County commissioner Amanda McKinney, a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump, has garnered 34.9% of the vote in early tallies. Democrat John Duresky of West Richland, at 30.8%, trails McKinney by less than 3,000 votes, 25,633 to 22,657.
They are looking to succeed U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, who chose not to pursue re-election to another two-year term in Washington, D.C.
The race for Newhouse’s seat attracted 11 candidates, including Republicans Jerrod Sessler of Prosser and state Sen. Matt Boehnke of Kennewick. Sessler, who has sparred with McKinney over Trump’s endorsement and has previously lost twice to Newhouse, sits third in the current race with 14.2% of the vote. Boehnke, who was endorsed by Newhouse, is fourth at 10.3%.
None of the other seven candidates polled over 4%.
Editor’s note: this article was updated at 10:55 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026 to include preliminary tallies on regional legislative and congressional races.
