Benjamin tops Pullman mayor race
Nov. 8—Francis Benjamin appears to be winning the race for Pullman mayor.
Benjamin is leading in the polls with 972 votes, compared to 838 votes for Deb McNeil.
The seat opened when longtime Mayor Glenn Johnson announced early this year he was not running for reelection. Johnson is Pullman's longest serving mayor, first appointed in 2004, according to the city's website.
Benjamin has served on the Pullman City Council for 13 years, as well as many other community organizations. McNeil owned the business Quilted Heart and has taught in Pullman schools for around 30 years.
Though more ballots need to be tabulated, Benjamin said he's confident and appreciates the community's support.
"I feel there's definitely support in the community for me to become the next mayor," Benjamin said. "And I'm excited for that opportunity. I'm looking forward to the continued counts that go toward."
Anne Parks, incumbent on the City Council, and Dan Maher were competing for Ward 1. Maher said he misfiled but did not formally withdraw his name from the race. His name still appeared on the ballot. Parks garnered 841 votes compared to 200 votes for Maher.
Pat Wright, incumbent, is winning the race for Ward 3, beating CJ Robert with 352 votes to 199.
Eric Fejeran is slightly ahead of Holly Greystone for the Ward 6 position, with 843 votes to 801. The seat opened up when it was vacated by Councilmember Eileen Macoll.
Whitman County has 22,562 registered voters. Around 3,500 ballots were counted Tuesday, with an estimated 3,000 ballots left to count.
The Whitman County auditor will provide an update at 8 p.m. today.
Updated election results, including additional rural levies, can be found at results.vote.wa.gov/results/20231107/whitman/.
Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com
