Sheriff Bob Norris, Commissioner Leslie Duncan and other North Idaho incumbents easily win re-election

Nov. 6—Most incumbents in Kootenai County held onto their seats in Tuesday's election.

Republican Sheriff Bob Norris defeated three independent challengers for a second term. Norris won with 69% of the vote against Dan Wilson, who had 22%, Justin Nagel with 5% and Kyle Woodward with 4%.

Leslie Duncan, Republican chair of the county commissioners, won re-election with 77% against independent Roger Rowland.

Former Commissioner Marc Eberlein retook his seat on the board running unopposed. In 2018, Eberlein lost to Bill Brooks, who decided not to run again this year.

County Prosecutor Stanley Mortensen ran unopposed.

Voters easily retained four magistrate judges, including one, Clark Peterson, who has faced criticism for reprimands about his conduct and claims that his role-playing hobbies interfere with his duties. Judges James Combo, Anna Eckhart and Destry Randles each retained their seats with 85% approval. Peterson received significantly less — 72% — but nowhere near the simple majority "no" vote required for removal.

For the Kootenai-Shoshone Soil and Water Conservation District, the incumbent chair and vice chair were replaced by two Republican committeemen.

Richard Meyer and Paul Mahlow won seats with 19% and 17% of the vote share. The two were endorsed by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, the official Republican Party.

Westley Evans and Walter Jon Groth kept their seats with 20% and 19%.

Laurin Scarcello and Linda Ely came in last with 13% and 11%. The two were endorsed by the North Idaho Republicans, a group of moderate conservatives opposed to the local GOP's influence on nonpartisan races.

In Latah County, former Moscow Police Chief James Fry lost his challenge against incumbent Sheriff Richie Skiles, who won a third term running as a Republican with 58% of the vote. Fry ran as an independent and took 35%. Christopher Middleton, a sheriff's office deputy who also ran as an independent, took 7%.

Juliaetta City Councilwoman Judi Fuller was recalled with 71% in favor. The argument in support of the recall printed on the ballot said Fuller made inflammatory accusations at city council meetings and had a lack of judgment on social media postings. In her counterargument, Fuller said the recall effort was retaliation for pressing the mayor for more transparency regarding "irregular procedures that affected how tax payer funds were being used." Fuller was appointed to the position in January.

Republicans prevailed across North Idaho's legislative races, defeating Democratic and independent opponents by strong margins.

James Hanlon's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.