But residents got to have their voices heard on Tuesday, as they cast votes for city council candidates in Bothell and Kenmore, a King County Council representative and two statewide initiatives.

Rod Dembowski got approval from voters to continue on as the King Council representative in District 1. Dembowski is defeating Naomi Wilson with 74.17-25.39 percent.

Dembowski, who has 19,790 votes, was appointed to the seat in February by the council following Bob Ferguson’s election as Washington State Attorney General. The District 1 seat represents Bothell, Kenmore, Lake Forest Park and Shoreline, along with areas in Woodinville, Kirkland and northeast Seattle on the council. The district has a combined population of 214,883.

Dembowski is a former Foster Pepper PLLC lawyer and also served as a policy analyst for the King County executive prior to beating out 17 other candidates for the council position earlier this year.

Kenmore City Council incumbent Allan Van Ness is leading challenger Ken Smith for position 6. Van Ness has 57.17 percent with 1,420 votes, while Smith has 1,056 votes. Smith has challenged Van Ness on economic issues within the city. Van Ness was first elected to the seat in 2005.

Nigel Herbig is beating Patrick O’Brien in early returns 62.35-36.46 percent for Kenmore City Council Position 4. Herbig has collected 1,563 votes for the seat currently held by Deputy Mayor Bob Hensel, who decided not to run for re-election. O’Brien has garnered 914 votes.

Hensel has served on the Kenmore City Council for nearly a decade. He has had a big part in shaping the course of the city that was incorporated in 1998. Herbig is currently working as 46th District State Rep. Jessyn Farrell’s legislative assistant in Olympia.

Kenmore City Council incumbent Laurie Sperry looks to holding onto her position 2 seat with 1,616votes, or 64.93 percent. Challenger Bob Black, who had name recognition from two previous runs for city council, has 865 votes, or 34.75 percent.

Sperry won the seat in 2005.

Bothell City Council Position 5 is going to former city council member Tris Samberg. Bothell Planning Commission member Steve Booth has just 47 percent to Samberg’s 53 percent. Booth has 1,931 votes while Samberg has 2,116 votes. The primary for position 5 was also very close, as Booth and Samberg were only separated by 5 percent with a third challenger in the race. Nadia Mustafa picked up 10 percent of the vote during the primary and eventually endorsed Booth.The winner of this race will take over for Patrick Ewing, who decided not to run for re-election after two terms in office.

One race that exploded with controversy during the final month of campaigning was for EvergreenHealth board of commissioners Position 2. Kinnon Williams, who received more than $55,000 in donations from from the board chair Al DeYoung’s family during the campaign, is trailing incumbent Rebecca Hirt 67.63-32.13 percent.

The donation set off complaints from local elected officials that the board chair was trying to “buy” the election. A complaint was even filed with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission.

In the race for District Director No. 1 on the Northshore School Board, Kimberly D’Angelo garnered 70.48 percent of the vote against incumbent Julia Lacey, who had dropped out of the race following the primary.

Initiative 522, creating a new labeling system for genetically modified food, is not passing with just 43 percent in favor.

Initiative 517, a Tim Eyman-backed measure expanding the rights of signature gatherers for initiatives, looks to be going down to defeat 61-39 percent.