PULLMAN, WA – Voting in Pullman’s very busy primary election is underway. The Whitman County Auditor’s Office sent out the mail-in ballots for the August 5th primary this week.
The ballot includes 22 candidates running in Pullman City Council and school board primaries. The candidates on the ballot for the open seat for city council Ward 1 are Bobbi Bennett-Wolcott, John-Mark Mahnkey, Cindy Kothandaraman, James Pitzer, Holly Greystone, Randy Cross and Bryan MacDonald.
The city council primary candidates for the open Ward 3 seat are Karl Olsen, Frederico Bartolo III, John Casselman, Collin Bannister, Dave Gibney, V. Shae Ortega and Tawny Szumlas. Pullman School Board Trustee incumbent Amanda Tanner faces three primary challengers Brandon Kruger, Teena Edwards and Stephanie Horn. The open school board seat primary candidates are Deena Bayoumi, Hannah Martian and Ben Emerson.
Elsewhere in Whitman County the primary for county commissioner District 3 features three Republicans. Recently appointed Commissioner Chad Whetzel is challenged by Tucker Senter and Cody Finch. There is also a Tekoa City Council primary.
The top two vote getters from the primary will advance to the November general election.
The Lamont School District has a levy on the ballot and voters in Farmington will consider a street levy.
The ballots need to be returned to the auditor’s office postmarked by election day August 5th. They can also be dropped off in ballot boxes in Pullman and Colfax by 8:00 p.m. on election night.