Cothren, Healy win races; Prestegard has narrow lead

Wahkiakum County voters elected commissioners and gave their input on a variety of races when votes for the 2012 General Election were counted Tuesday.

One race won't be settled until today (Thursday) at the earliest. In the race for the District 1 seat on the county board of commissioners, Democrat Greg Prestegard leads Independent Mike Backman by 20 votes, 966-946.

Another count of approximately 300 late-arriving ballots is set for 12 noon today.

Other races weren't as close. Commissioner Dan Cothren won re-election to a fourth term, defeating Joan Harvey-Chester 1,238-645. Both are Independents.

In the race for the District 1 seat on the Wahkiakum PUD board of commissioners, Gene Healy defeated Lisa Marsyla 1,121-742. It is a non-partisan position.

In the election of county treasurer, Tammy Peterson defeated Marlena Silva 1,065-755. Both are Democrats. Silva was appointed to the post last winter when incumbent Paula Holloway retired; Peterson is a former treasurer's office employee.

Superior Court Judge Mike Sullivan withstood a challenge from write-in candidate Dennis Gordon; Sullivan led 1,125-539 in Wahkiakum County and had 73.35 percent of the vote for both Wahkiakum and Pacific counties. The position is non-partisan.

Voters in Fire District 4 approved a measure seeking approval for the purchase of up to $250,000 in bonds to pay for a newer fire engine and remodel of the Elochoman fire station by a vote of 423-239. The measure needed only a simple majority to pass but had 63.9 voter approval.

On regional, statewide and national issues, Wahkiakum voters sometimes countered the overall votes.

County voters followed the trends in re-electing state Senator Brian Hatfield and Representatives Brian Blake and Dean Takko.

Local voters favored Republican Mitt Romney for president over incumbent Democrat Barack Obama 962-954, but Obama won nationwide.

Wahkiakum voters favored Republican Rob McKenna over Democrat Jay Inslee 1,107-832 for governor, but Inslee was narrowly winning statewide with 51.68 percent of the vote.

Wahkiakum opposed Initative 1240, allowing 40 charter schools, by a margin of 1,046-822, but the measure was narrowly passing statewide.

Wahkiakum voters also opposed Referendum 74, which would allow marriage of same gender couples 1,108-812, but the measure was narrowly passing statewide.

Local voters also opposed Initiative 502 which would allow possession of marijuana by adults by a vote of 1,017-925, but the measure was narrowly passing statewide.

See related story in this issue for complete results.