Several local races for the November general election are taking shape following the initial round of ballot counting from the recent vote-by-mail primary in Whitman County.

In the Pullman School Board race, incumbent Trustee Amanda Tanner appears to be in a challenging position, as she is currently trailing in votes. Stephanie Horn leads with 44% of the votes and is set to face Brandon Kruger, who has a narrow lead of 239 votes over Tanner.

In another Pullman School Board primary for an open seat, Deena Bayoumi is advancing to the November election with 48% of the vote. She is likely to compete against Hannah Martian, who is in second place with 32%.

For the Pullman City Council open Ward 1 position, Bryan MacDonald is moving forward with 30% of the votes, with John-Mark Mahnkey closely behind at 27%.

In a separate Pullman City Council primary for another open seat, Tawny Szumlas has secured a spot in November with one-third of the vote. The second candidate for this seat is still undetermined, as John Casselman has a slight lead of just 34 votes over Karl Olsen.

In the Whitman County Commissioner primary, Republican Commissioner Chad Whetzel will appear on the November ballot with a leading 57% of the primary vote. Republican Cody Finch is currently in second place but holds only a narrow 38 vote lead over Republican Tucker Senter.

In Tekoa, the city council primary results have advanced Reid Smith and Adam Matthews to the upcoming general election.

The primary election in Pullman saw significant participation, with 22 candidates competing for various city council and school board positions.

Additionally, the Lamont School District levy seems to have passed, while the Farmington street levy is currently trailing by a small margin.

There are still a number of ballots left to count, with the auditor’s office reporting approximately 100 ballots on hand. However, this number may increase as it does not account for ballots dropped off on the day of the election. Officials are scheduled to process another batch of ballots late Friday afternoon.