Early election results point to a story of redemption for one former county commissioner.
Clark County council chair candidate Marc Boldt, who ran with no party preference, was leading Tuesday night with 40.39 percent of the vote. Mike Dalesandro, a Democrat, was trailing with 37.62 percent.
The challenges of running a write-in campaign, meanwhile, appear insurmountable for state Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas. Pike came in a distant third in the county chair race with 21.25 percent of the vote.
Boldt was leading Pike with 22,807 votes to 11,997, and there are about 30,000 votes left to count, according to the Clark County Elections Department.
Pike’s loss comes despite a substantial funding edge over Boldt and Dalesandro, as well as vocal and active grass-roots supporters.
Pike did not return a request for comment Tuesday.
Boldt, a former Republican county commissioner, was ousted from his seat in 2012 when current Republican Councilor David Madore defeated him.
Boldt echoed the comments he made following the primary election in August: perhaps “God has a sense of humor.”
“There was so much that was going on,” he said. “Would (Pike) take votes away from me? If you just looked at the facts, the facts were kind of against me.”
But Boldt said he’s looking forward to joining the three sitting councilors, as well as the winner of the District 2 race, in January.
“Hopefully the council will get ready for us, and we’ll go in full of steam,” Boldt said.
Battle Ground City Councilor Dalesandro, meanwhile, said he’s holding out for the rest of the ballots to be counted.
“Obviously I would like to be on the flip side of the situation,” Dalesandro said. “We’re kind of in a wait-and-see mode.”
As of Tuesday, 58,491 votes had been tallied. There are 251,528 registered voters in the county, meaning voter turnout on Tuesday was 23.25 percent.
If the county receives another 30,000 ballots as projected, that would put voter turnout in the high 30 percent range, lower than the 42 percent originally projected.
“People vote when they feel like they are informed about the races and issues on the ballot,” said Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey, who oversees the elections office. “That’s why we see so many people vote in presidential years. In these off-year elections, I think a lot of people don’t feel like they’re informed enough to cast a vote.”
District 2
Republican candidate Julie Olson led Tuesday night in the race for District 2, which covers northwest Clark County and the cities of Ridgefield and La Center.
Olson had 51.54 percent of the votes Tuesday night, with Democrat Chuck Green trailing with 48.02 percent.
Olson is a newcomer to county politics, though she served for 12 years on the Ridgefield School Board, eight of those years as board president.
“I’m grateful to all the folks who have helped throughout this campaign, whether it’s doorbelling, walking in parades, donating time, money and effort,” she said. “It’s my campaign, but you never do it alone.”
Green, the project manager for C-Tran’s Bus Rapid Transit program, said with only about 3.5 percentage points between him and Olson, he’s “still feeling optimistic.”
“We did everything we could,” Green said.
The two new councilors, who will be sworn in at the first January council meeting, will usher in a new era for Clark County government under the home rule charter adopted by voters in November 2014. The council will grow from three members to five as the winners of Tuesday’s election join sitting Republican councilors Madore, Tom Mielke and Jeanne Stewart.
More results will be reported by the Clark County Elections Department on Wednesday afternoon.
