Hart, Brown book primary leads

John Hart posted a solid lead in the three-way race for district court judge, and Lisa Brown, Democratic challenger to Cathy McMorris Rodgers, edged the incumbent by 215 votes in Tuesday night's count of primary election ballots.

The count totaled 6,523 ballots, or about 29 percent of the 22,000-plus ballots that were mailed out to voters.

The count did not include the ballots which came into the elections office on the Aug. 7 election day.

Hart, who keyed his campaign on the Elect Judge Hart format, booked 2,468 votes in the primary return which will eliminate one of the three candidates for...