Benjamin primed to unseat Sorensen

With more than twice the number of votes than his opponent, preliminary election results show Francis Benjamin leading the race for the Pullman City Council Ward 1 seat in the Whitman County general election.

It appears Benjamin, a former member of the council, will unseat the incumbent, Al Sorensen, who was seeking a third consecutive term.

Benjamin said he was happy with the turnout and the results. According to unofficial election results as of about 10 p.m. Tuesday, Benjamin received 782 votes and Sorensen 323.

The Whitman County elections website stated 1,300 ballots still needed to be counted with a batch of results expected tonight.

“I believe this is a lead I’ll be able to hold and get elected for this position,” Benjamin said. “I’m looking forward to being able to work with the rest of the city council members and also with the city staff as we work together to build a welcoming community.”

Benjamin previously served on the Pullman City Council from 2003-15. Sorensen also served on the council from 2005-07.

“I really appreciate all the people who’ve supported me,” Benjamin said. “These are people who are highly invested in our community and they want to see it continue to grow and become better.”

Benjamin is an information systems coordinator at Washington State University and also teaches real estate there. He’s lived in the area for nearly 40 years.

Ward 1 covers Military Hill, Sunnyside Hill and the downtown core.

“I am someone who is a collaborator,” Benjamin said. “I like to bring people together in order to solve problems, and those were the things that people really appreciated.”

Dan Records and Megan Guido ran unopposed for the two other open seats on the Pullman City Council.

In the race for a seat on the Palouse City Council, Tim Sievers appears to be in the lead. Sievers was recently elected as Palouse mayor by council members after the former mayor vacated the position.

Sievers dropped out of the race after being sworn into the city’s top leadership position, however the ballots had already been printed.

By press time Tuesday night, Sievers collected 144 votes while his opponent, Tracy Stewart, received 97 votes.

Sievers told the Daily News late Tuesday night that if official election results show he won a majority of the votes, the council will appoint a fill-in at a later date.

“It’s kind of weird,” he said. “I couldn’t get it off the ballots because they had already been printed and distributed. If I win, I won’t accept that of course, as I’m currently serving as mayor.”

Unofficial Whitman County Election Results

These are partial results for select races, listed by candidate, votes. The top vote getter earns the seat in each race:

Pullman City Council Ward 1, Pos. 7

Francis Benjamin, 782

Al Sorensen, 323

Pullman Regional Hospital Commissioner Dist. 4

Tricia Grantham, 1,290

Reid West, 260

Colfax City Council Pos. 2

Anne Ellithorpe McRae, 212

Hillary Hoffman, 145

Colfax City Council Pos. 3

Crystn Guenthner, 175

Travis Schaefer, 170

Palouse City Council, Pos. 1

Sarah Bofenkamp, 158

Brad Pearce, 82

Palouse City Council, Pos. 3

Tim Sievers, 144

Tracy Stewart, 97

Palouse City Council, Pos. 4

Sam Brink, 136

Libby Akin, 108

Palouse City Council, Pos. 5

Travis Deerkop, 135

Jim Fielder, 101

Palouse City Council, Pos. 6

Leslie Jo Sena, 123

Robert Brooks, 112

Palouse City Council, Pos. 7

Ann Barrington, 145

Ron Weller, 87

Uniontown Mayor

Mike Shore, 55

Lynn Soto, 28

For complete Whitman County election results: results.vote.wa.gov/results/20211102/whitman/

Palermo can be reached at apalermo@dnews.com or on Twitter @apalermotweets.