Hall wins auditor’s race

With only 450 ballots left to count, Democratic challenger Mary Hall has a 713 vote lead over incumbent Republican Thurston County Auditor Gary Alexander.

That’s the result of the ballot count Wednesday afternoon.

While the race is close, it’s not close enough for a mandatory recount.

Voter turnout was 44 percent.

In other election news, Thurston County was one of only seven counties in the entire state to vote to approve I-522, the food labeling initiative.   It passed here by nearly 53 percent.   The initiative  failed in King County.