Tuesday, June 15, 2010 • Fouch elected to serve another term

Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, June 15, 2010 edition of the Lassen County Times.

Veteran Lassen County Auditor Karen Fouch will serve another four-year term.

According to the unofficial final results released by the Lassen County Clerk’s office on Wednesday, June 9, Fouch defeated challenger Kurt Bonham by 737 votes in the Tuesday, June 8 primary election.

Bonham, the mayor of Susanville and a certified public accountant, did not seek a seat on the City Council — challenging Fouch for the county auditor’s job instead. Bonham will be succeeded on the council when two new councilmembers are sworn in today, Tuesday, June 15.

“I’m extremely pleased to have won, and I look forward to continuing to provide public service to the residents of Lassen County,” Fouch said.

Fouch has worked in the auditor’s office for more than 21 years, and has served two terms as auditor, succeeding Irene Doyle.

“I’m certainly glad the election process is over,” Fouch said. “Being the incumbent, you don’t take it for granted you’re going to win. I don’t think it’s a bad process, and I don’t resent having to run (for election). I think it gives me an opportunity to re-evaluate where I am and what I want to do. I’m very proud of the work I’ve done for Lassen County, and I look forward to continuing it.”

“I appreciate the opportunity to serve on the city council,” Bonham said. “To me, that was a very important four years. I appreciate those who did support me during this campaign. I’ve always believed in the voter. The voter decides what they want to do, and they generally are correct. I don’t have any problems.”

According to the unofficial election results, 3,614 voters cast their ballots at polling places, 2,188 cast mail-in ballots for a total of 5,802 votes.

Fouch collected 2,025 votes at the polling places and 1,231 votes from mail-in ballots for a total of 3,256 votes — 56.12 percent of the votes cast.

Bonham collected 1,569 votes at the polling places and 950 votes from mail-in ballots for a total of 2,519 votes — 43.42 percent of the votes cast.