Assessor race continues
Neil Nemec, right, and Mary Sanderson, center, joined by Jazzmin the dog, encourage voters to support Brad Corkill, Tarie Zimmerman and Pete Broschet for the North Idaho College Board of Trustees while Lisa Whitehead, Republican committeeman of precincts 418 and 419, offers sample ballots outside St. Thomas Parish Center on Tuesday.
BILL BULEY/Press
COEUR d’ALENE — The race between embattled Kootenai County Assessor Béla Kovacs and write-in candidate Bob Scott remained up in the air late Tuesday night.
Kovacs had earned about 69% at 10:30 p.m., around 3,100 votes total.
Scott noted that only about 5,300 people voted early. He received about 1,300 of those votes.
Kootenai County has over 103,000 registered voters.
“It’s far from over,” he said Tuesday night. “We’re not done with this yet.”
Kovacs was not available for comment.
County Clerk Jim Brannon indicated Monday that races with write-in candidates, particularly the assessor election, would likely delay election results Tuesday night.
Write-in votes must be verified by a write-in board, adding steps and time to the ballot-counting process.
The two candidates previously squared off in the Republican primary election, where Kovacs garnered about 57% of the vote.
That race was marked by criticism from more than 30 Assessor’s Office employees who publicly pleaded with voters not to elect Kovacs. In letters submitted to The Press, employees said Kovacs lacked the necessary experience to run the office.
Scott, a residential leader appraiser and nine-year Assessor’s Office employee, said a lack of leadership is the biggest issue facing the office.
“I believe I’m the better man for the job,” Scott said. “I think (Kovacs) is a good man, but I think he’s the wrong fit for the position. He’s continued to lose the confidence of the employees.”
Win or lose, Scott said he’ll continue serving Kootenai County, either as assessor or in his current role.
Last month, Kovacs sued Kootenai County, asking a court to restore the salary that commissioners voted unanimously to cut in half.
Commissioners cited both a failure to perform the duties of his office as their reason for slashing Kovacs’ pay.
Kovacs missed state deadlines that temporarily left county taxing districts unable to finalize their budgets. He ultimately delivered the 2022 property values more than a month late.
Brannon told The Press Monday that he hoped to have final results by 5:30 a.m. today. Additional results will be reported on cdapress.com today and in Thursday's print edition.