Sanders sails to win in Thurston County sheriff's contest, Clouse zeroing in on second term

With roughly 10,000 ballots left to be counted from the Nov. 3 General Election, a couple of races for partisan offices have been decided while two other contests remain up for grabs in Thurston County.

The most likely race to be decided next is the battle between Thurston County Commissioner Emily Clouse and Nicolas Martinez-Dunning for the District No. 5 seat.

Clouse increased her advantage over Martinez-Dunning to roughly 7,300 votes from nearly 7,000 votes, updated unofficial results from the Thurston County Auditor’s Office Elections Division showed on Monday evening, Nov. 9. 

Clouse received 58,956 votes (52.34 percent), compared with 51,644 votes (45.85 percent) for Martinez-Dunning. Write-in totals accounted for 2,039 votes (1.81 percent).

Based on the number of remaining ballots, and assuming all of those ballots carry votes for the District 5 seat, Martinez-Dunning would need to capture more than 86 percent of the remaining votes to move ahead of Clouse.

The District 5 position carries an annual salary of $147,936 or $12,328 per month, according to 2026 Thurston County salary data.

Partisan offices

Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders, who locked down a win days ago, continued to add to his lead over challenger Kevin Burton-Crow.

Sanders received 85,087 (69.73 percent), compared with 36,561 (29.96 percent) for Burton Crow. Write-in totals accounted for 376 votes (0.31 percent), updated unofficial results showed on Nov. 9. 

The position comes with an annual salary of $182,761 or $15,230 per month, according to 2026 Thurston County salary data.

JJ Olson has defeated Lynda Nashed Zeman in the race to become Thurston County Assessor. Olson received 61,946 votes (56.46 percent), compared with 45,315 votes (41.31 percent) for Nashed Zeman. Write-in totals accounted for 2,446 votes (2.23 percent), updated unofficial results showed on Nov. 9.

In the race for Thurston County Clerk, Nicole Miller received 60,392 votes (51.37 percent), compared with 56,577 (48.13 percent) for Garrett Cady. Write-in totals accounted for 584 votes (0.50 percent) Cady would need to capture nearly 70 percent of the remaining votes to overtake Miller.

Ballot measures

Proposition 1 (Bonds for Fire Stations, Training Facility, Logistics Warehouse) from Lacey Fire District 3 received 25,714 votes (70.09 percent), compared with 10,975 votes (29.91 percent). The proposition has surpassed the 60 percent threshold required for approval.

Proposition 1 (Educational Programs and Operations Maintenance Levy) from Yelm Community Schools received 6,477 “yes” votes (57.70 percent), compared with 4,748 “no” votes (42.30 percent).

Proposition 1 (Regular Property Tax Levy Lid Lift for Library Services, Operations and Maintenance) from Timberland Regional Library received 74,648 “yes” votes (61.45 percent), compared with 46,833 “no” votes (38.55 percent).

The muti-jurisdictional proposition (Grays Harbor, Mason, Lewis, Pacific and Thurston counties) needs a simple majority to pass. The proposition was well ahead of that threshold on Nov. 9, largely because of the support from Thurston County.