Howie leads Balch in sheriff's election

In the first round of counting ballots for Tuesday's general election, Mark Howie leads Mike Balch 879-684 in the race for county sheriff.

Auditor and Chief Elections Officer Diane Tischer said 142 ballots arrived too late to be counted Tuesday. Election officers will gather at 10 a.m. Friday to count those ballots and others which arrive by then.

In the county's other contested races:

--Wahkiakum School District Director 4--Shawn Merz 576, Lamar Blix 538.

--Naselle/Grays River Valley School District Director 2--Joshua Holt 129, Art Hyland 86. Including Pacific County precinct votes, Holt led 284-193.

--N/GRVSD Director 4--Bud Strange 134, Allen Lebovitz 115. Including Pacific County precincts, Strange led 319-252.

--Cathlamet Council Position 1--Hanna Booth-Watts 125, John Knopp 17. Knopp told The Eagle last week that he was asked to be a write-in candidate, and he had declined and didn't want to be a candidate for council.

In Wahkiakum voting on the state wide initiatives and advisory votes on the ballot:

--Initiative 517--yes 741, 53.9 percent; no 633, 46 percent. Statewide, the vote was 40 percent yes, 60 percent no.

--Init. 522--yes 575, 37.4 percent; no 961, 62.6 percent. Statewide, the vote was 45.2 percent yes, 54.8 percent no.

--Advisory Vote 3 on excise tax credit--repealed 829, 63.2 percent, maintained 483, 36.8 percent. Statewide, the vote was 50.6 percent to maintain, 49.4 percent to repeal.

--Advisory vote 4 on aircraft excise tax--repealed 823 62.2 percent, maintained 500, 37.8 percent.Statewide, the vote was 51.7 percent to maintain, 48.3 percent to repeal.

--Advisory vote 5 on pediatric oral service premium tax--992 to repeal, 75.5 percent, 322 to repeal, 24.5 percent. Statewide, the vote was 62.2 percent to repeal, 37.89 percent to maintain.

--Advisory vote 6, telecommunications sales tax exemption--repealed 876, 65.8 percent; maintained 455, 34.2 percent. Statewide the vote was 54.3 percent to repeal, 45.7 percent to maintain.

--Advisory vote 7 on property transfer estate tax--Repealed 795, 59.6 percent; maintained 538, 40.4 percent. Statewide, the vote was 50.3 percent to repeal, 49.7 percent to maintain.

Other results of uncontested races include:

Port District No. 1, commissioner position 1, 6-year term, Bob Kizziar 437.

Port District No. 2, position 2, 6-year term, Brian O'Connor 559.

Fire District 1, position 1, 6-year term--Lee Tischer 297.

Fire District 2, position 3, 6-year term--Kent Martin 136.

Fire District 3, position 1, 2-year unexpired term--Don Smith 266.

Fire District 4, position 3, 6-year term--Larry Hendrickson 379.

Skamokawa Water and Sewer Commission, position 1, 4-year unexpired term, David Blalock, 23.

N/GRVSD Director Position 5, 4-year term--Steve Gacke162, and, including Pacific County precincts, 374 votes overall.

Town of Cathlamet

Mayor, 4-year term, Dale Jacobson, 146.

Council position 4, 4-year term, David Goodroe, 144.

Council position 5, 4-year term, Andrew Lea, 147.