Three-term incumbent Nancy Barnes will have a challenge on her hands come November, to keep her seat on the Clark Public Utilities commission.
But, who will be her rival?
Votes counted Tuesday showed Mike Lyons and Robert Nichols in a tight race for second place and a slot in a run-off election with Barnes.
Lyons, a retired Vancouver firefighter and current Clark County Fire District 5 commissioner, had earned 3,848 votes, or 24.1 percent.
Just 71 votes behind was Robert Nichols, a three-decade Bonneville Power Administration engineering and management veteran, with 3,777 votes, or 23.6 percent.
Trailing behind were local tax preparer John Elkin with 1,370 votes (8.6 percent) and Jeff Bier, former U.S. Air Force officer, computer consultant and Boeing analyst, with 979 votes (6.1 percent).
Lyons’ and Nichols’ combined votes outpaced the 5,947 votes, or 37.2 percent, that Barnes earned.
Barnes was unopposed in 2004 when she won her current six-year term on the three-person panel. Lyons said he believes commissioners’ recent talk about raising utility rates helped his and Nichols’ effort.
“Of course, they’re going to have raise rates, but I’m all for minimizing the impact of that,” Lyons said.
