Following some hotly contested and packed primaries, the final two candidates in each Northshore race campaigned and gave their views on issues that impact voters.
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. Here are the results as of Tuesday evening.
County Council
In Snohomish County, Bothell residents helped elect Terry Ryan with 62 percent of the vote over Robert Reedy. County elections staff has counted 19,328 votes for Ryan so far from District 4 residents, while Reedy has 11,803.
Ryan will take over the seat from Dave Gossett who had met term limits for the seat.
Rod Dembowski got approval from voters to continue on as the King Council representative in District 1. Dembowski is defeating Naomi Wilson with 76-24 percent.
Dembowski, who has 38,729 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
Kenmore City Council incumbent Laurie Sperry will hold onto her position 2 seat with 3,075 votes, or 65 percent. Challenger Bob Black, who had name recognition from two previous runs for city council, has 1,633 votes, or 35 percent.
Sperry won the seat in 2005.
“I am thankful for the voters continued support and look forward to a productive third term as a councilmember,” said Sperry. “Good things are happening in Kenmore and it’s fun to be a part of the action.”
Kenmore City Council incumbent Allan Van Ness is leading challenger Ken Smith for position 6. Van Ness has 56 percent with 2,651 votes, while Smith has 2,032 votes. Smith has challenged the city’s finance and accounting practices during the campaign.
Van Ness was first elected to the seat in 2005.
Van Ness said that he received an email from Smith congratulating him.
“He is a nice guy and I like him a lot,” said Van Ness. “He is really on the ball.”
Van Ness said that he would like to work with Smith in the future to get his ideas on how to improve Kenmore.
“Obviously I am pleased with the results or I wouldn’t be running,” said Van Ness. “I am just glad the city is behind Laurie and I, and I look forward to working with Nigel.”
Nigel Herbig is leading Patrick O’Brien in early returns 62-37 percent for Kenmore City Council Position 4 but Herbig said that he has not heard from his opponent as of Friday morning.
“I feel pretty secure with the results so far,” said Herbig. “I think it shows that my positive message resonated with Kenmore voters.”
Herbig said that he thinks his views on a more open Kenmore City Council had a big impact.
Herbig has collected 2,938 votes for the seat currently held by Deputy Mayor Bob Hensel, who decided not to run for re-election. O’Brien has garnered 1,792 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.
“Its not the first time someone has worked in Olympia and held a local seat,” said Herbig. “I will just have to recuse myself when appropriate.”
Bothell City Council
Bothell City Council Position 5 is going to former city council member Tris Samberg by 298 votes. Bothell Planning Commission member Steve Booth has 47 percent to Samberg’s 53 percent.
“I want to thank the voters of Bothell for investing their trust in me,” said Samberg. “This was a very close race, and I commend Mr. Booth on his campaign. I also want to thank all of the people who volunteered their time, especially my family, whose unwavering support kept me energized until the end.”
Booth has 3,029 votes while Samberg has 3,327 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 of the hallmarks of my campaign is to get more people involved in the governing of their city,” said Samberg.
Samberg said that if residents want to receive periodic updates on council business, to send her an email at trissamberg@gmail.com and they will be added to her email list.
EvergreenHealth
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 the board chair Al DeYoung’s family during the campaign, is trailing incumbent Rebecca Hirt 68-32 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.
Northshore School Board
In the race for District Director No. 1 on the Northshore School Board, Kimberly D’Angelo garnered 72 percent of the vote against incumbent Julia Lacey, who had dropped out of the race following the primary.
Initiatives
Initiative 522, creating a new labeling system for genetically modified food, is not passing with 48 percent in favor of labeling.
Initiative 517, a Tim Eyman-backed measure expanding the rights of signature gatherers for initiatives, looks to be going down to defeat 62-38 percent.
