McDermid and EnEarl win Douglas GOP primaries

"There was no negativism. We focused on the issues and not the personalities. Our race was different than other races."

The winner of the November election will replace Genoa resident Tim Smith who announced last year he would not run for another term. Smith held the commission seat for one term.

Murphy, a lake resident and the Tahoe Douglas Utility District administrator for 14 years, offered congratulations to McDermid. She said McDermid's victory makes it "very clear" that the majority of voters in Douglas County don't want a representative from Lake Tahoe on the commission.

"It's clear that the message from the rest of the county voters is that they don't want a lake representative," Murphy said.

"The majority of the votes are in the valley. That clearly reflects that they do not want a lake representative, which is a shame because the lake area has generated more revenues - property tax, room tax, etc., that have supported the valley for many, many years. That is a fact."

The Republican primary for public administrator came to a quick close, with incumbent Lynn EnEarl receiving twice the votes of her opponent Jay Lather.

Final unofficial results gave EnEarl 4,398 votes to Lather's 1,944 with all 41 precincts reporting.

"I'm humbled by the support I've received during this campaign look forward to the race in November," EnEarl said Tuesday night. "After that, I look forward to continuing to serve the residents of Douglas County."

EnEarl's husband, East Fork Justice of the Peace Jim EnEarl, and her daughters walked the neighborhoods for her.

"While my husband was doing his campaign work, he put in a spiel for me," she said. "I'm very proud of him and so are my daughters."

Challenger Jay Lather said he told people as he campaigned that if they weren't going to vote for him to vote for EnEarl.

"I think the Republicans elected a really good person," he said. "I give her my full support as we move forward to the next election. It's kind of hard to campaign against someone you like."

Lather said he would run for office again if the opportunity arose.

"I think it's important for everyone to be involved in the electoral process," he said. "Everyone wants to sit around and complain. I want to do something, and that's why I ran. I like to do things myself."

The public administrator takes care of the estates of people who die without a will. EnEarl also serves as power of attorney for people who've been declared incompetent and don't have families who are able or willing to care for them.