By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Appointed Lewis County Clerk Scott Tinney won the tight race for election, according to a recount of votes conducted yesterday.
He will be sworn in at 3 p.m. today.
[1]Scott Tinney
Tinney and Deputy Clerk Carla Shannon, both Republicans, both ran for the office in the November election, to fill out the term of Lewis County Clerk Kathy Brack who vacated the position last year. Tinney has been in the role since then, appointed by the Board of (Lewis) County Commissioners.
The election was certified last week, with Tinney ahead by just 38 votes, prompting yesterday’s machine recount by the elections division in the Lewis County Auditors Office.
The process turned up one more vote for Tinney, Chief Deputy Auditor Tom Stanton said.
More than 14,000 votes were cast in the race, and Tinny secured 49.63 percent of them, while Shannon garnered 49.37 percent of them. One percent of the votes (148) were write-in candidates.
Tinney will be sworn in this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court by Judge James Lawler.
The position will again be on the ballot in November 2018 for a normal four-year term.
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For background, read “County clerk election: Too close to call without a recount” from Tuesday November 28, 2017, here [2]