EVERETT — The latest election tabulations show two very close State Legislative races involving Snohomish County candidates and a slight increase in support for a $420 million fire department bond levy for South County Fire and Rescue.
In the Washington Legislature 39th District, the race for St. Rep. Pos. 2 is a mere 702 votes, with Republican, Steve Ewing, leading Democrat, Ida Keeley. Ewing added to his lead by almost a half-a-percentage point in the second batch of ballot returns, now ahead 50.71% to Keeley’s 49.18%. The 39th District includes Lake Stevens and Darrington north of Highway 2 in Snohomish County and rural Skagit County east of I-5 and north to the Whatcom County line.
In the 12th Legislative District, which includes eastern Snohomish County and Chelan County, incumbent Republican State Rep. Brian Burnett shaved 445 votes off his deficit to first time candidate, Democrat, Stacy Willoughby, narrowing the challenger’s lead to 1010 votes, 50.89% to 49.03%.
The “yes” votes for the $420 million South Snohomish County Fire and Rescue bond levy have grown slightly in the latest round of election results. The latest tally is 51,239 for a 60.92% passage. After the first round of election results the ‘yes’ vote on the levy to upgrade and build new firefighting facilities was at 60.81%. The South Snohomish Co. Fire District bond needs at least 60% ‘yes’ to pass.
The Monroe Hospital $380 million bond is currently failing to meet the 60% bond threshold, mustering only 55.54% yes vote, which is similar to its 55% yes vote announced on election night.
The only other close election contest involving a Snohomish County candidate is incumbent St. Rep. Pos. 1, Sam Low, a Republican, who extended his lead over Democratic challenger, Kathryn Lewandowsky, to 3048 votes, nearly 800 more than his lead on election night.
Five Snohomish County Charter measures are experiencing similar vote counts with the second round of ballots compared to the first night of tabulations.
Charter Review Proposition 1, “adoption of a foundational government services policy” to prioritize budgeting is currently failing with a “no” vote of 53.62%, fractionally larger than the initial vote count by three-hundredths of a percent.
Charter Review Proposition 2, “prioritize funding of budget stabilization funds” which would set aside budget money for emergencies and catastrophic events expanded its ‘yes’ vote lead to 51.23% after starting with a 51.17% “yes” vote.
Charter Review Proposition 3, “converting all elected County offices to non-partisan” is failing as voters reject that measure with a 70.66% “no” vote.
Charter Review Proposition 4, “increasing public access to County financial transparency” and creating a website clearinghouse with a searchable database of where budget money goes, is passing with 63.62% “yes” support, a slight addition compared to the first round of vote results.
Charter Review Proposition 5, “requiring a 4/5 supermajority of the County Council vote to increase taxes” is currently passing with 52.42% “yes” vote. Prop 5 received the most votes of any of the five Charter Review measures with 216,011, signifying the super-majority to increase taxes was the most strongly understood issue of the five County Charter questions voters were asked. The second round of ballots added about 34,784 new votes to the current count.