Wednesday totals for all Clark County races and issues are at The Columbian, and will be updated as soon as Thursday results are tabulated.
Election results released Wednesday showed Vancouver City Council candidate Bill Turlay widening his lead over his opponent.
Turlay now leads Anne McEnerny-Ogle by a little more than 1,100 votes, or 51.74 percent to 47.66 percent. On election night, he led by 656 votes. Should his lead persist, he will succeed Pat Campbell, who was ousted by voters in the August primary.
Turlay said Wednesday that he won’t declare victory, but rather allow Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey to certify results.
“I feel very confident that I’ll probably win,” he said from his east Vancouver home, adding he’s received many congratulatory messages since Tuesday night. “I’ve never done anything like this before; it’s a humbling experience. It makes you want to dig in and do a real good job for people, because a lot of people put a lot of faith in my candidacy.”
C-Tran’s Proposition 1 continued to attract majority support. The proposition will increase the local sales tax by 0.2 percent to continue bus and C-Van services at current levels. Wednesday’s results showed it at 53.68 percent yes, and 46.32 percent no. It has garnered 5,287 more yes votes than no votes out of approximately 72,000 votes cast. It needs a simple majority to pass.
In the 49th Legislative District, state Rep. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver, appears to have won her race against challenger Craig Riley. Wylie’s lead Wednesday was 14,658 votes, for 55.48 percent of the vote. She was appointed to her seat in April and will have to stand for election next year.
The county’s closest race after election night was in Battle Ground, where Deputy Mayor Phil Haberthur and challenger Shane Bowman were four votes apart. On Wednesday, Bowman’s lead grew to 39 votes, or 1,271 to1,232.
In Washougal, several city council races were close on election night. The current leaders are Caryn Plinski, who has a 10-vote lead on Rodney Morris; Joyce Lindsay, who leads Michael Delavar by 185 votes; Jennifer McDaniel, who has apparently won her race against Niki Anderson; and Connie Jo Freeman, who leads Molly Coston by 158 votes. Should the candidates in a particular race finish within one-half of 1 percent of each other, an automatic recount would be triggered, Kimsey said.
According to the results, 93,240 votes were tabulated as of Wednesday. The elections office reported 108,841 ballots on hand Wednesday morning, meaning there are thousands left to count. More ballots could trickle in via the mail over the next week; under Washington law, they only need to be postmarked by election day to be counted. A new total is expected Thursday afternoon.
Kathie Durbin of The Columbian contributed to this story.
Andrea Damewood: 360-735-4542 or andrea.damewood@columbian.com or www.facebook.com/reporterdamewood or www.twitter.com/col_cityhall
