Pat McCarthy Elected Washington State Auditor

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Democratic Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy has been elected state auditor.

McCarthy defeated Republican Sen. Mark Miloscia.

The auditor is the elected official charged with rooting out waste and fraud in government operations.

McCarthy has said a key priority is erasing the pall cast over the office by Auditor Troy Kelley's federal fraud indictment in early 2015. Kelley, a Democrat from Tacoma, was accused of keeping $3 million he should have refunded to customers of his former real-estate services business about a decade ago, before he was elected.