After all ballots were counted on Friday, Aug. 21, for election certification, only 38% of Clark County voters turned out for the Aug. 4 primary.
That percentage stayed the same since the last election update by The Reflector with Aug. 17 results. The remaining 62% of Clark County voters added up to 222,938 not casting a ballot. The 37% number from Cowlitz County also held true over the last week.
Clark County Fire District 10’s Proposition No. 3 — a bond to build a new fire headquarters in Amboy — did not meet the required 60% super majority. Prop. 3 ended with an approval rate of 59.45%. The approval number slightly decreased by less than a full percentage point since the fire district posted on Facebook that the bond did not pass.
Clark County Fire District 10 stated in a Facebook post that its bond levy did not pass, falling 15 votes short of the 60% necessary to be approved.
The social media post further asked, “We are curious to hear from the 174 people that submitted their ballots, but chose not to vote in this particular matter. Why did you make this choice? Was it simply that you didn’t see us on the backside of the form? Did you not understand what we were trying to do? Please reach out and let us answer your questions.”
Clark County Councilor District 1’s primary election was a close one to figure out the second candidate moving on to November. Incumbent Glen Yung led with 34.67% of the vote with challenger Bryan Shull advancing with 28.08% of the vote.
Incumbent Michelle Belkot and John Zingale advanced over Martin Pittioni for Clark County Council District 2.
For Clark County Council District 5, Troy McCoy and Peter Silliman head into the November general election with a difference of 400 votes in the primary that favored McCoy for current County Chair Sue Marshall’s seat.
The open Clark County auditor race gained the most attention in the primary election. Eileen Quiring O'Brien held a narrow first place position after additional votes counted at 29.12%, followed closely by Mitchell Kelly at 28.25%, holding the same since last week as both advance to November.
Sharon Wylie and Ty Stober finished a few thousand votes back.
Overall, the auditor primary received over 128,000 votes with each candidate receiving over 25,000 votes.
After verification, both incumbent Republican representatives for Washington state Legislative District 18 will look toward higher GOP voter turnout for the November general election. Randi Knott led Rep. Stephanie McClintock 52.02% to 47.82% in Position 1, while Deken Letinich was leading Rep. John Ley 53.42% to 46.39% in Position 2. McClintock trailed by 1,845 votes and Ley trailed by 3,082 votes.
In Washington's Third Congressional District, incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s election night lead never returned as the count remained in favor of John Braun with 85,064 votes over Gluesenkamp Perez’s 78,025.
Additional Democratic challenger Brent Hennrich earned 35,820 votes in the Aug. 4 primary. Hennrich was vocal on social media after the initial primary election results in that he will not endorse Gluesenkamp Perez. Hennrich’s most recent Facebook post on his congressional candidate page was a shared video explaining ranked choice voting.
Additionally for Hennrich, on Thursday, Aug. 20, a Clark County District Court jury convicted Hennrich of third-degree malicious mischief and unlawful storage after not adhering to neighbor complaints regarding an installed basketball hoop and mural on the street in front of his home in Vancouver.
The nearly 36,000 votes for Hennrich will be a major factor come November for Democrats to hold on to the Third Congressional District seat.
Gluesenkamp Perez has had a significant fundraising advantage for the entire campaign, reporting more than $6 million in fundraising while also facing Hennrich from within her own party. Braun has been second in fundraising with just over $2 million raised.
