With just 10 or so “cured” ballots — those missing a signature or otherwise need to be corrected by the voter — left to count, the Aberdeen/Hoquiam regional fire authority measure has failed by the slimmest of margins.
In the third count Wednesday, Nov. 10, the measure was failing at just over 58% in Hoquiam – a 60% yes vote was required. In Aberdeen, it was passing with 60.1% yes votes.
To be approved, it needed 60% of the total Aberdeen and Hoquiam votes. It wound up with 59.7% combined. To put it in perspective, of the 4,372 votes cast in both cities, it would have needed 2,623 to pass. It got 2,610.
Aberdeen City Council Public Safety Committee chair Tawni Andrews mentioned the results at Wednesday’s council meeting.
“Right now it’s falling, by just a small margin, like 13 votes,” she said, and encouraged voters to check the status of their ballot to make sure it wasn’t uncounted because of a fixable mistake, like a forgotten signature.
With an estimated 10 such ballots left to be counted, it’s unlikely the fire authority will pass, but all voters if at all unsure as to whether their ballot was counted or not can find out by going to co.grays-harbor.wa.us/government/Auditors/elections.php and clicking on “My Ballot Status” under the Voter Information header highlighted in green.
City Council races
Aberdeen: The makeup of the Aberdeen City Council has changed, though several incumbents were victorious and two races were uncontested.
Ward 1 will consist of Melvin Taylor in Position 1, who defeated challenger Kimberly Strom. In Position 2, it will be Kacey Ann Morrison, who ran uncontested for the seat currently held by Tawni Andrews, who elected not to run for reelection.
Ward 2 will remain unchanged, with Tiesa Meskis in Position 3 and John Maki, who ran uncontested this year, in Position 4.
Ward 3 will also remain the same. Incumbent Liz Ellis defeated Norman Klein to retain her Position 5 seat. Position 6’s Kati Kachman was not up for election this year.
In Ward 4, the Position 7 race went to Marissa Aube, who defeated Antara Croft by 47 votes for the seat vacated when incumbent Margo Shortt decided not to run. Deborah Ross remains in Position 8.
Ward 5 Position 9, held by Joshua Francey, was not up for election this year. In Position 10, incumbent Alan Richrod fell by a wide margin to challenger Debi Ann Pieraccini.
Ward 6, Position 11 incumbent Frank Gordon lost his seat to challenger David Lawrence by a 60%-40% margin. Position 12 council member and current council president Dee Anne Shaw did not face an election this year.
Hoquiam: The Hoquiam City Council remains mostly unchanged. Both Ward 1 incumbents Paul McMillan and John Pelligrini ran unopposed. Ward 2 Position 4 incumbent Jim George easily bested challenger Dennis J. Carpenter in the general election, and Position 3 held by Steven Puvogel was not up for election this year.
In Ward 3, Position 5’s Tracey Ushman and Position 6’s Bill Nelson both ran unopposed. In Ward 4, Position 7 incumbent Greg Grun has fallen to challenger Jamie Brand by only nine votes. Position 8, held by Al Dick, was not up for election.
The two Ward 5 and Ward 6 races featured incumbents running unopposed: Denise Anderson in Ward 5 Position 10, and Elizabeth Reid in Ward 6 Position 12. Brenda Carlstrom’s Ward 5 Position 9 and Dave Hinchen’s Ward 6 Position 12 seats were not up for election this year.
Ocean Shores: The results haven’t changed since the second count. Susan Conniry has lost her Position 1 seat to Eric Noble; Lisa Scott bested Patrick Daugherty for Position 5; and Rich Hartman took Position 7 over Patric Hayes.
Montesano: Most races are decided. Clint Bryson ran unopposed for Position 1. Rollin Caryl defeated Valerie Jester by 112 votes for Position 2. Position 6 went to incumbent Tyler Trimble over challenger Brooke Chapman-Hoiness.
The Position 3 race between incumbent Ian Cope and challenger Holly Shuck is still mathematically too close to call, but it appears Cope has edged Shuck by four votes. Cope had trailed Shuck by nine votes after the second ballot count.
Cosmopolis: Position 4 went to Cody Bridges over incumbent Debbie Moran. In Position 5, incumbent Mike Wenzel has defeated challenger Jonathan Bennett by 26 votes.
Elma: There were three council seats up for election this year, but only one, Position 1, drew more than one candidate. There, Pat Miller easily defeated Tim Hedgpeth 80%-20%.
Other races: Results for hospital district, school board, fire district and many other races on this year’s ballot can be viewed at results.vote.wa.gov/results/20211102/graysharbor/.
