Benjamin, Sorensen one step closer to Pullman City Council seat

Francis Benjamin and Al Sorensen should compete for the Pullman City Council Ward 1 seat in the general election in November.

With an estimated 50 ballots still to be counted, Benjamin and Sorensen are the two leaders from the Tuesday primary election. Benjamin has 890 votes (38 percent) to Sorenson’s 591 votes (25 percent).

Eric Fejeran stands in third place with 517 votes (22 percent) while Max Williams has 324 votes (14 percent).

Benjamin, 59, said he feels encouraged by the results and believes voters connected with his message and his leadership experience. He also attributed his success to meeting with voters face to face.

“I’ve been out in the community knocking on doors,” he said.

Benjamin is an information systems coordinator at Washington State University and also teaches real estate there. He served on the Pullman City Council from 2003-15. He has lived in the area for nearly 40 years.

Sorensen, 59, is seeking a third consecutive term representing Ward 1, which covers Military Hill, Sunnyside Hill and the downtown core. He also served on the council from 2005 to 2007. Sorensen has lived in the area since 1966 and is the co-owner of Pioneer Insurance of Pullman and Asotin. He is also an adjunct instructor at WSU.

Robert Brooks and Leslie Jo Sena are the top two vote-getters for the Palouse City Council race. They are vying to replace Libby Akin on the council. Brooks has 143 votes and Sena has 132. They comfortably lead Scott Storch, who has 71 votes.

Scott Shauf (34 votes) and Scott Hokonson (6) are leading in the Malden Town Council Seat 1 election. However, Hokonson is only two votes ahead of the third candidate, Kelly Adams, who has four votes.

John Lenz (23 votes) and Janell Turner (16) are the leading candidates for Malden Town Council Seat 3. Colleen Cross (6) is third.

Whitman County has counted a total of 2,731 votes, or 34.57 percent of the 7,900 eligible voters. The next count will take place Aug. 17 when the Whitman County Canvassing Board will certify the results. The general election will take place Nov. 2.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.