Gary Stamper talks to citizens during his section of Meet the Candidates last month at the TransAlta Commons in Centralia College campus.
Lewis County Commissioner Gary Stamper cruised to another term Tuesday, beating challenger Jerry Pratt by a 68 to 32 margin, as of Wednesday’s vote count.
“I figured he would,” Pratt said following the election, noting that he hadn’t seen the results until being contacted by The Chronicle. “Nice guy. No hard feelings. Congratulations to him.”
Stamper could not be reached for comment. The two pledged early on to run a civil campaign, calling each other friends. Pratt acknowledged that he did little in the way of campaigning, leaving the result a foregone conclusion.
“I didn’t run very hard,” he said.
Pratt said in August that he got into the race to protest the county’s decision to stop funding senior centers, hoping his entry would at least send a message to Stamper on the issue. He also said he was hoping to be involved in helping re-draft county government through a home rule charter, a measure that also failed at the ballot box Tuesday.
Stamper said following the primary that he was hoping to continue momentum on county projects he’s been involved in.
“I feel positive (that) I’ve been doing a good job,” he said in August. “I want to continue that. We’ve got a dam to build … and we’ve got a Packwood sewer we’re working on. Lots of things going on, and I want to see those projects through.”
