County, mayoral races becoming more official

By Kirk McKnight

The votes for the general election were most recently tabulated last Friday, Nov. 7, at 10:45 a.m. As of Friday, a total of 1,998 ballots were counted out of 3,661 registered voters in Wahkiakum County, with only an estimated 40 ballots left to count. The voter turnout of 54.58 percent was greater than that of neighboring Pacific County, which had 41.23 percent voter turnout. The ballots for both of these counties included Joint Resolution 8201. According to the Washington State Legislature website (leg.wa.gov), Joint Resolution 8201 "proposes a constitutional amendment to allow funds held for the purpose of long-term care services and supports for eligible seniors and people with disabilities to be invested as authorized by law" and "dedicates investment income from any such funds to long-term services and supports for program beneficiaries." In Wahkiakum County, Joint Resolution No. 8201 received 1,036 votes of rejection (57.52 percent) and only 765 votes (42.48 percent) of approval. In Pacific County, the vote was closer, with 3,880 votes (54.79 percent) of rejection and 3,202 votes (45.21 percent) of approval.

The Wahkiakum Public Utility District (PUD) Proposition No. 1 had 1,273 votes (69.49 percent) of approval and 559 votes (30. 51 percent) of rejection. Specific to Cathlamet, Proposition No. 1, which would have increased the property tax levy, had 153 votes (63.49 percent) of rejection and 88 votes (36.51 percent) of approval. Another race specific to Cathlamet is that for mayor. Candidate Nicholas Sevald (166 votes) still holds the lead over Laurel Waller (88 votes). Separated into precincts, South Cathlamet (Precinct 10) had 111 votes for Sevald and 57 for Waller, while North Cathlamet (Precinct 11) had 55 votes for Sevald and 31 votes for Waller.

The race for Wahkiakum County Assessor got closer, as Justin Moriarty closed the gap between himself and Drew Jenkins. Despite the increase in votes, Moriarty (807 votes) still trails Jenkins (1,091 votes), with three write-in votes submitted. Deep River and Grays River (precincts 1 and 2 respectively) were the only precincts out of 11 in which Moriarty had more support than Jenkins. West Puget Island (187) represented the most votes for Jenkins, while Elochoman (107) represented the most votes for Moriarty. In the race for Wahkiakum County Sheriff, John Mason extended his lead over Josh Grassesth. With 1,724 votes (87.47 percent), Mason holds a commanding lead.

Returning to Pacific County, specific to Naselle, Amy Hunt, running unopposed, received 98.12 percent of the votes (314) for School District #155 Director District 2. Natasha Carter, running unopposed, received 97.81 percent of the votes (313) for School District #155 Director District 4. John Larson, running unopposed , received 97.4 percent of the votes (300) for School District #155 Director District 5. Cliff Kilponen, running unopposed, received 98.68 percent of the votes (299) for Fire District #4 Commissioner Position 1. As for Hospital District Commissioner. Sandra Stonebreaker received 97.17 percent of the votes (2,988) for District 2, and Elise Chayet, running unopposed, received 98.49 percent of the votes (3,071) for District 3. Rounding out Hospital District 3 Commissioners, Ariel Smith, running unopposed, received 98.24 percent of the votes (3,133) for District 4. According to the Washington Secretary of State website (results.vote.wa.gov), an estimated 425 votes are left to be counted for Pacific County. The next ballot count took place on Wednesday, Nov. 12, but the updated results were not available at the time of press. According to the website, the next ballot count for Wahkiakum County will be Monday, Nov. 24 at 10 a.m.