Here’s who came out on top in the race for Benton County prosecutor

Richland lawyer Eric Eisinger has won election to be Benton County’s next prosecuting attorney.

Eisinger, a Republican, told the Tri-City Herald on Monday that he was “humbled and honored” to earn the trust of Benton County voters. His leading margin is larger than the number of outstanding ballots left to be tabulated by election officials.

“I’m honestly still processing what’s happened. It’s been nine months of hard campaigning, and a pretty crazy five or six days of watching the results come in,” said Eisinger.

Eisinger, 46, kept a strong lead over his opponent, Ryan Lukson, as Benton County released the results of about 12,000 ballots on Saturday.

After that, Eisinger had a lead of 2,100 votes. It’s estimated there are only 1,000 votes left to counted in the Nov. 8 general election, according to the Benton County Elections Department.

Lukson, 40, conceded the race in a post on his campaign’s Facebook page shortly after the new results were posted.

“The results are in and we came up a bit short,” wrote Lukson, also a Republican. “I want to thank all of my friends, family and co-workers for all of their time and support the last nine months. There are too many people to name, but believe me I couldn’t have done it without you.”

An assistant chief deputy prosecutor in the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office, Lukson says he plans on leaving his job when Eisinger takes office in January and will start “the next chapter” of his career.

Lukson could not be reached Monday but said in his post that he will continue serving on the Richland City Council. He served as mayor during 2 years of the COVID pandemic.

Election results

As of Monday, Eisinger had 51%, or 33,672 votes. Lukson had 47.8%, or 31,572 votes.

About 8,300 voters who returned ballots in Benton County did not vote in the prosecutor race.

The next ballot tabulation will be 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Republicans will have full control over Benton County government beginning next year when Prosecutor Andy Miller, a Democrat, leaves office.

Despite their slight deviation politically, Lukson and Eisinger landed similarly on the issues. Both voiced opposition to recent police reform laws from the Legislature and loosened drug possession penalties that came as part of a short-term fix to the Blake Decision.

Both supported renewing Benton County’s 0.3% public safety sales tax, which provides essential funding to police agencies and programs to deter crime and gang activity.

Lukson ran a campaign focused on keeping the “victim-centered” approach that Miller established over his 36 years at the helm of the office.

One of Eisinger’s top priorities coming into the office will be to “prosecute crime and deal with it severely and protect the interest of the public.”

He also plans to prioritize drug rehabilitation programs and also advocate for the development of mental health and substance abuse resources at the proposed Benton County recovery center at the old Kennewick General Hospital building.

Eisinger said he received a call Monday from Miller congratulating him on his win. He said he looks forward to speaking with deputy prosecutors and others in Miller’s office to ensure the transition over the next couple months is as seamless as possible.

“I would like to move forward with as much of Andy’s team still intact as possible,” Eisinger said.

Miller, at the request of the Justin Krumbah’s family, asked Eisinger if he can stay on temporarily as a special prosecutor to help prosecute the suspected Fred Meyer murder suspect Aaron C. Kelly. Eisinger says he’s still considering the issue.

Republican vs. Republican

The elected county prosecutor is the county’s chief law enforcement official, serving as the decision maker on prosecuting felony crimes and misdemeanors, as well as legal counsel for the Benton County Commission and county departments.

The Benton County prosecutor manages 63 employees, including 32 criminal and civil attorneys, and is paid about $203,000.

The office also oversees a biennium budget of more than $16 million that’s spent on salaries, programs, domestic violence programs and drug task force work.

Eisinger has practiced law for about 19 years, and was a prosecutor for Yakima County, Lewis County and the city of Kennewick from 2003 to 2010.

He’s spent the last 12 years in private practice, mostly as a trial attorney in civil and criminal law.