Independent Marc Boldt and Democrat Mike Dalesandro combined to take more than three-quarters of the county chair votes in first returns released tonight, apparently leaving little room for supporters of write-in candidate Liz Pike. The results are likely to change the balance of county council leadership.
Boldt polled 40.39 percent of tonight’s returns, while Dalesandro had 37.62 percent. Pike was at 21.25 percent.
A vote for Pike was seen as keeping control of the five-member council with Madore and Tom Mielke, while either Boldt or Dalesandro are expected to lead the council in a different direction.
After being defeated for the job in the primary, Madore backed Pike and gave more than $185,000 to the state GOP, which in turn gave more than $100,000 to Pike, though she declined to campaign for the job. All told, Madore donated nearly $300,000 of his own money to Pike backers.
The second county council race pits Republican Julie Olson, a former Ridgefield school board member, against Democrat Chuck Green, a C-Tran project manager. In that race, Olson had 51.54 percent, with Green gaining 48.02 percent of first returns. Neither publicly aligned their campaigns with Madore or Mielke.
In another closely watched race, oil terminal opponent and Fruit Valley neighborhood leader Eric LaBrant was leading Lisa Ross for a Port of Vancouver seat, 56.17 percent to 43.21 percent. Ross supports the proposed terminal, which would be the USA’s largest. She said Tuesday night that she wouldn’t concede the race yet. “There’s still a lot of ballots to count,” she said.
In Vancouver City Council races, a race for an open seat appeared too close to call, with Ty Stober 216 votes ahead of Linda Glover. Incumbent Bart Hansen was trouncing Justin Forsman, while in the other race incumbent Bill Turlay had 61.54 percent of the vote over George Francisco.
In La Center, Greg Thornton appears to have won the mayoral race, defeating Al Luiz 60.88 percent to 39.49 percent. “It’s time to rally around our new mayor,” Luiz said after results were released.
In many of the other races, incumbents won, including Dale Q. Rice for the Vancouver school board, Victoria Bradford in Evergreen, and Mavis Nickels for Battle Ground Public Schools.
In Hazel Dell/Salmon Creek/Felida, voters approved a measure allowing Fire Protection District 6 to increase its tax levy collection. Proponents said the yes vote would allow the district to maintain its high level of service.
Only two statewide initiatives are to be decided in this election: Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1366, which concerns taxes, and Initiative 1449, which would prohibit trafficking in endangered animals. Clark County voters were favoring both initiatives. The Associated Press reported that Eyman’s initiative was leading statewide, and that voters had approved the wildlife conservation measure.
Tuesday’s count encompassed 58,491 ballots, for a turnout of 23.25 percent. County Auditor Greg Kimsey said Tuesday he expects about 30,000 more ballots to be tabulated in the coming days, bringing voter turnout closer to 40 percent. A second batch of results is expected Wednesday afternoon.
In total, there were 96 races, measures or initiatives on this year’s ballot.
Follow Columbian reporters live tonight on Twitter using the hashtag #clarkelex.
