CANYON CITY — Julie Ellison appeared to be heading toward reelection in the Grant County treasurer’s race, leading challenger Danielle Kimball by 2,139 votes to 1,683, or 55.79% to 43.90%, in early unofficial returns Tuesday, Nov. 5.

It will be Ellison’s third four-year term as treasurer. A former bookkeeper and deputy county clerk, she was first elected to the office in 2016.

It will also be her final term in the post.

“I’m going to be retirement age,” she joked in a post-election interview Tuesday night.

“Al I really want to say,” she added, “is thank you to everybody and I will work hard for them in my last four years.”

Kimball and Ellison were the top two vote-getters in a four-way race during the May primary, which moved them into a runoff on the November ballot.

Kimball works as a bookkeeper in her husband’s construction business and as an agent for a John Day insurance agency. 

The treasurer acts as budget officer for the county, manages revenue and investments and pays the county’s bills as directed by the county court.

The county’s budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year is $101.54 million. The base salary for county treasurer is $74,016 per year, plus $7,200 for the role of budget officer.