The Daily World is profiling Grays Harbor County’s closest contested races as of Thursday’s 5 p.m. ballot count. An additional 4,838 ballots were counted Thursday, bringing the total to 13,894 and bumping voter turnout to 28.46%. There are still an estimated 1,800 votes left to tabulate.
There will also be another tabulation in the early part of next week, according to Joe MacLean, Grays Harbor County auditor. The races will not be certified until Nov. 28, according to the Grays Harbor County auditor’s website.
Aberdeen Mayor:
The Aberdeen mayoral race had a razor-thin margin Tuesday night, with Doug Orr leading Debi Pieraccini by two votes.
Thursday evening’s count changed the race by a little as Orr now leads Pieraccini by 8 votes. The score now is 1,192-1,184.
Ward 3 Position 6
Scott Prato leads Norm Klein 214 to 206.
Ward 6 Position 12
In what was a 10-vote lead for Sydney Renae Newbill against Bessie Jones, Newbill, Thursday night brought good news for Newbill as she now leads by 34 votes. The score is 185 to 151.
Cosmopolis
Position 4
Mark Collett leads Sue Darcy by four votes. The score there is 264 to 260.
Elma
Position 5
Jacob Borden leads Ron Woodman by 14 votes. The score there is 301 to 287.
Ocean Shores City Council
Two Ocean Shores City Council races were separated by only a few percentage points following Tuesday’s ballot count. Those races are still tightly contested as of Thursday afternoon, after about 1,000 more ballots were tallied for each.
Susan Conniry widened her lead slightly in the race for position 3, gaining nearly three-quarters of a percentage point over Lisa Griebel. After Tuesday’s count left Conniry with a 16-vote lead, the margin is now 24. Conniry has garnered 50.27% of the vote to Griebel’s 49.4%.
In the race for position 6 on the city council, incumbent Richard Wills has nudged ahead of PJ Faria after Tuesday’s ballot count put him 31 votes behind. Wills now leads by six votes — 1,361 to 1,355 — in what amounts to a 0.22% lead.
North Beach School Board District 4
After Tuesday, the closest North Beach School Board race on the ballot was that between Joe Lomedico and Halvar Olstead, in which Lomdico held a 76-vote and four-percent lead. Lomedico expanded his lead slightly on Thursday, with the margin growing to 134 votes and 4.6%
Oakville School Board District 3
The race for district 3 director on the Oakville School Board between Elizabeth Brockman and official write-in candidate Liz Marriott remains undecided after Thursday’s ballot count. Brockman has garnered 177 votes thus far, or 49% of the vote, while 177 ballots, or 51%, have listed a write-in candidate.
According to Grays Harbor County Auditor Joe Maclean, it’s still undetermined how many of the write-in ballots may have listed Marriott’s name and how many might have listed otherwise. The auditor’s office will have to examine each ballot to determine that fact, a process likely to take up to a week.
Taholah school board position 1
Jacob James expanded his lead over Richie Underwood in the race for position 1 on the Taholah School Board. Tuesday’s ballot count left James with a one-vote lead over Underwood, but after Thursday the gap grew to 14. James holds 57% of the vote to Underwood’s 43%.
