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Maggie Yates concedes to Al French in race for Spokane County Commission

Al French, left and Maggie Yates, right, are running to represent the newly redrawn West Spokane County Commissioner District.
Courtesy of Al French and Maggie Yates
Al French, left and Maggie Yates, right, are running to represent the newly redrawn West Spokane County Commissioner District.

The latest release of ballots show Republicans will hold onto their majority on the Spokane County Commission.

Spokane County Commission Republican Incumbent Al French has a 1,000-vote lead over Democratic challenger Maggie Yates.

Wednesday night she conceded.

In a statement, Yates thanked her supporters and congratulated French.

“Now is the time to keep our heads up and continue working toward an inclusive, thriving community that prioritizes people, not political power,” she said.

Yates has focused her campaign on inclusivity and criminal justice reform. French, who has served 12 years as a commissioner, has touted his experience, and law enforcement backing. He was endorsed by outgoing Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, as well as several other prominent local Republicans.

In last year’s redistricting process, two new city of Spokane seats were added and West Spokane County was redrawn into a swing district.

Democrat county commission candidates Amber Waldref and Chris Jordan kept their strong leads over their Republican opponents Michael Cathcart and Kim Please. They are running to represent the two city districts.

Incumbent East Spokane County Republicans Josh Kerns and Mary Kuney also kept their election night leads, making their return to office likely.

According to the Spokane County Auditor’s Office, there are 20,000 votes left to count.

Rebecca White is a 2018 graduate of Edward R Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. She's been a reporter at Spokane Public Radio since February 2021. She got her start interning at her hometown paper The Dayton Chronicle and previously covered county government at The Spokesman-Review.