Maike takes helm in Medical Lake

General election races for both mayor and City Council seats in Medical Lake mirrored those of the primary held this past Augst, according to the first batch of ballots released by the Spokane County Elections Department on Tuesday night.

With nearly 70 percent of the ballots tallied countywide Shirley Maike is running ahead of Mike Suniga in the mayor’s race by a 55.99 to 43.56 percent margin. Maike, a current member of the council, will replace the retiring John Higgins.

“Voters have said Medical Lake is a good viable community and where they want to live, and they reflected that,” Maike said Tuesday night. “While some wanted a change, the majority of citizens said we’re happy with the services that are being provided by the city.”

Current council member John Paikuli ran unopposed in the primary for the Position 1 seat but faced a write-in challenge from Monica Manza who lost in her primary for Position 2. Paikuli was easily ahead with 87 percent of the vote.

In Position 2, challenger John Merrick improved on his August primary totals, garnering 57 percent of the vote to unseat incumbent Elizabeth Rosenbeck. Merrick earned just shy of 46 percent of primary ballots.

Art “AJ” Burton ran unopposed for Position 3 and earned nearly 94 percent of the vote.

Don Kennedy was leading Tony Harbolt for Position 4 by a 53-47 margin in what looks like the closest race of the night.

Ted Olson had a more comfortable lead for the Position 5 seat, 56-45 over Gary Plumlee.

In the Medical Lake School Board, Leo Spilker held a 55-44 edge over incumbent Kelly Fouts for Position 1 while Peggy Schweikhardt was running unopposed for Position 5.

Countywide, of 304,000 registered voters, 68,717 or 22.54 percent cast ballots. The next ballot count was to have taken place Nov. 8 with approximately 15,000 ballots remaining to be tallied.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.