Benton County Commissioners–1 New, 1 Holds Court

There will be one new Benton County Commissioner after last night's elections, with local businessman Wil McKay cruising to an easy win over incumbent Jim (James) Beaver in Benton County District 3.

McKay, the owner of W. McKay Construction, a well known area business, campaign aggressively in favor of business re-open with COVID, and hammered Beaver for not attending Health District Board meetings. He won by a margin of 59-39 percent. Observers noted Beaver mounted virtually no campaign, very few signs and very little activity.

Jerome Delvin faced a more outspoken challenger in Justin Raffa, but held his seat by a 60-38 margin. Delvin faced criticism from citizens and some in his own party for allegedly not being 'aggressive' enough against Gov. Inslee's lockdowns and COVID policies, but he still cruised past Raffa in District 1.

Commissioner Shon Small in District 2 was not up for re-election this term.