Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart appeared within reach of another four-year term Tuesday, as preliminary results showed him with 51.9 percent of the vote.
Republican Alan Svehaug received 47.9 percent of the vote.
A total of 4,043 votes separate Stuart and Svehaug.
“It’s too close to call,” Stuart said.
Auditor Greg Kimsey said there’s an additional 30,000 to 35,000 ballots to be counted. An updated count will be released at approximately 5 p.m. today.
Traditionally, for whatever reason, later ballots have trended Republican, Kimsey said.
In a 2008 race for county commissioner, Democrat Pam Brokaw had 51.6 percent of the vote over Republican Tom Mielke on election night, but later ballots pushed Mielke ahead to win by 207 votes.
Svehaug did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment.
The 39-year-old widely endorsed Stuart campaigned on his efforts to keep the county afloat during the recession and ongoing attempts to diversify the county’s economy in the wake of the home building woes.
The county’s general fund has been cut three times since January 2009 by a total of 22 percent.
County staffers have been rewriting development code to make it, as Stuart often says in meetings, “better, faster, cheaper” to bring jobs to Clark County, which has the highest unemployment rate in the state.
As an extra incentive, commissioners recently approved a 14-month-long fee waiver for certain business developments.
Stuart, a Democrat, told voters he understands the complexities of the full-time job, which pays $98,220 a year.
Svehaug, in contrast, campaigned against a proposal to put tolls on a replacement Interstate 5 bridge, an issue not under the direct control of county commissioners.
Svehaug, 58, stood out as the lone Republican who couldn’t win the endorsement of the Building Industry Association of Clark County, despite his promise to be more accommodating to developers.
According to reports filed with the Public Disclosure Commission, Stuart raised $79,739 to Svehaug’s $5,763.
Svehaug, founder of the Learning Excellence Corp., which teaches speed-reading, did receive thousands of dollars worth of advertising from David Madore of Notolls.com.
During August’s primary, Stuart won 57 percent of the vote. In the primary, only residents in District 3 (the city of Vancouver) voted, while the general election was countywide.
The election didn’t come close to costing as much as Stuart’s past races.
In 2006, Stuart beat Republican Bruce Hagensen after raising $260,000 to Hagensen’s $88,000. In 2005 — a special election because Stuart had been appointed to fill Craig Pridemore’s seat after voters sent Pridemore to the state Senate — Stuart beat Mielke. The race between Stuart and Mielke, who had moved into Stuart’s district to run against him, also ranked among the most expensive commissioner races in county history.
Mielke and Commissioner Marc Boldt, both Republicans, are not up for re-election until 2012.
Boldt endorsed Stuart.
Mielke contributed $100 to Svehaug’s campaign, according to PDC reports.
