With nearly all ballots counted, here's what voters decided

With only about 2,000 ballots remaining to be counted as of 4:47 p.m. today, it's time to announce the likely winners of most of the general election races throughout Thurston County.

The Thurston County Auditor reported they counted ballots from 74,420 of the county's 196,717 registered voters, or 37.83%, so far. See the chart below the text for the exact vote counts.

Voters approved Proposition 1 by a margin of some 13%. This measure will increase the sales tax throughout the county by two cents for every $10 spent at retailers starting in April 2024.  

One of the two new county commissioner races looks likely to be settled; Emily Clouse defeated Terry S. Ballard by a wide margin. The other race, between Wayne Fournier and Vivian Eason, is too close to call, with just over 400 votes separating the candidates. 

In the races for the new port commissioner seats, District 1 candidate Jasmine Vasavada has won; she received nearly 2,700 votes more than former port commissioner Bill McGregor.  In the race for the District 2 seat, only 700 votes separate Rose Chiu Gunderson from Maggie Sanders and is too close to call.  The Port Commission District 5 race is settled; Sarah Tonge received 4,045 votes more than Troy Kirby. 

Olympia's new mayor will be Dontae Payne, who received nearly 70% of the vote and defeated David Ross.

Less than 2,000 votes separate school board candidates in all races except those for Olympia School District directors. Voters in Olympia were decisive in their selection of incumbent District 1 Director Maria Flores,  District 2 candidate Jess Tourtellotte-Palumbo and District 4 incumbent Hilary Seidel. 

Here are the vote counts reported tonight:   

Note: Candidates in competitive races with a lead of over 2,000 votes are shown in bold type. 

Thurston County Proposition No. 1 – Sales and Use Tax for Law Enforcement Protection, Corresponding Prosecution and Public Defense Services, and Elections Security  

Name	Count	Percent
Approved	39,495	56.46%
Rejected	30,461	43.54%

 

Thurston County Commissioner, District No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Wayne Fournier	35,465	50.1%
Vivian Eason	35,063	49.54%

  

Thurston County Commissioner, District No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Emily Clouse	42,490	59.77%
Terry S. Ballard	28,366	39.9%

  

Port of Olympia Port Commissioner, District No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Jasmine Vasavada	35,850	51.72%
Bill McGregor	33,181	47.87%

  

Port of Olympia Port Commissioner, District No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Rose Chiu Gunderson	33,771	49.18%
Maggie Sanders	34,553	50.32%

  

Port of Olympia Port Commissioner, District No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Sarah Tonge	36,049	52.74%
Troy Kirby	32,004	46.82%

  

Town of Bucoda, Mayor  

Name	Count	Percent
Robert F. Gordon	104	100%
Unopposed

  

Town of Bucoda, Town Council, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Callie Carpenter	93	98.94%
Unopposed

  

Town of Bucoda, Town Council, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Steven Lyle	91	97.85%
Unopposed

  

Town of Bucoda, Town Council, Pos. No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Michelle Layton	94	100%
Unopposed

  

Town of Bucoda, Town Council, Pos. No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Kiersten Presley	95	98.96%
Unopposed

  

City of Lacey, City Council, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Malcolm Miller	9,009	97.56%
Unopposed

  

City of Lacey, City Council, Position No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Spencer Zeman	4,710	43.59%
Lenny Greenstein	6,046	55.95%

  

City of Lacey, City Council, Position No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Nicolas Dunning	6,783	63.56%
Ed Kunkel	3,798	35.59%

  

City of Olympia, Mayor  

Name	Count	Percent
Dontae Payne	10,687	69.55%
David Ross	4,609	29.99%

  

City of Olympia, City Council, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Yen Huynh	11,279	96.25%
Unopposed

  

City of Olympia, City Council, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Dani Madrone	11,308	96.35%
Unopposed

  

City of Rainier, City Council, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Damion Green	240	49.69%
Ryan Roth	237	49.07%

  

City of Rainier, City Council, Pos. No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Ron Kemp	359	96.25%
Unopposed

  

City of Tenino, Mayor  

Name	Count	Percent
David Watterson	242	52.84%
Linda Gotovac	214	46.72%

  

City of Tenino, City Council, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Elaine Klamn	346	97.74%
Unopposed

  

City of Tenino, City Council, Pos. No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Jeff Eisel	340	97.7%
Unopposed

  

City of Tumwater, City Council, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Leatta Dahlhoff	4,459	97.49%
Unopposed

  

City of Tumwater, City Council, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Angela Jefferson	4,556	97.96%
Unopposed

  

City of Tumwater, City Council, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Doris Atkinson	889	15.98%
Joan Cathey	4,605	82.76%

  

City of Tumwater, City Council, Pos. No. 7  

Name	Count	Percent
Andrea McGhee	2,802	47.34%
Kelly Von Holtz	3,089	52.19%

  

City of Yelm, City Council, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Stephanie Kangiser	571	48.43%
Tracey Wood	601	50.98%

  

City of Yelm, City Council, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Joseph Dale Richardson	617	52.6%
Jerry Toompas	548	46.72%

  

City of Yelm, City Council, Pos. No. 6  

Name	Count	Percent
Trevor Palmer	591	50.13%
Ashley Lea Brooks	581	49.28%

  

Centralia School District No. 401-L, School Board Director, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Maritza Bravo	69	94.52%
Unopposed

  

Centralia School District No. 401-L, School Board Director, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Andrea Ware	66	92.96%
Unopposed

  

Centralia School District No. 401-L, School Board Director, Pos. No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Mandi McDougall	32	33.68%
Sarah Holmes	61	64.21%

  

Griffin School District No. 324, School Board Director, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Matt Dorcy	1,154	44.78%
Tesa Frevert	1,413	54.83%

  

Griffin School District No. 324, School Board Director, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Emma Rose	1,880	96.81%
Unopposed

  

Griffin School District No. 324, School Board Director, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
David Kangiser	967	40.44%
Blair Baker	1,403	58.68%

 

North Thurston Public Schools, School Board Director, District No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Veronica Shriver	10,684	47.15%
Gretchen Maliska	11,873	52.39%

 

North Thurston Public Schools, School Board Director, District No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Stephanie Scott	10,493	46.76%
Esperanza A. Badillo-Diiorio	11,802	52.59%

  

North Thurston Public Schools, School Board Director, District No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Michelle J. Gipson	11,645	51.17%
David G. Newkirk	11,017	48.41%

  

Olympia School District No. 111, School Board Director, District No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Maria R. Flores	12,633	61.43%
Talauna Reed	7,142	34.73%

  

Olympia School District No. 111, School Board Director, District No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Jess Tourtellotte-Palumbo	12,218	59.06%
Frank Durocher	8,403	40.62%

  

Olympia School District No. 111, School Board Director, District No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Hilary Seidel	12,252	59.82%
Leslie Van Leishout	8,111	39.6%

  

Rainier School District No. 307, School Board Director, District No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Amanda Siemandel	700	55.47%
Aaron Lang	555	43.98%

  

Rainier School District No. 307, School Board Director, District No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Jerry F. Sprouffske	704	53.82%
Jon Palmer	597	45.64%

 

Rainier School District No. 307, School Board Director, District No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Dana Morgan Spivey	880	68.06%
Brian Hackethal	410	31.71%

  

Rochester School District No. 401, School Board Director, District No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Grant Rodeheaver	1,942	62.71%
Wava Garza	1,134	36.62%

  

Rochester School District No. 401, School Board Director, District No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Penelope Mena	1,335	42.83%
Susie Hawes	1,759	56.43%

  

Rochester School District No. 401, School Board Director, District No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
James Neil Turner	1,530	49.98%
Michael L. Morrow	1,509	49.3%

  

Tenino School District No. 402, School Board Director, District No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Ryan T. Hilton	414	15.14%
Jennifer Johnson	2,301	84.13%

  

Tenino School District No. 402, School Board Director, District No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Adam Barr	2,105	96.12%
Unopposed

  

Tenino School District No. 402, School Board Director, District No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Jessica Reeves-Rush	2,229	97.81%
Unopposed

  

Tumwater School District No. 33, School Board Director, District No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Jeff (Cowboy) Curry	3,799	37.08%
Jill Tokarczyk Adams	6,384	62.31%

  

Tumwater School District No. 33, School Board Director, District No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Casey Taylor	7,315	91.86%
Unopposed

  

Tumwater School District No. 33, School Board Director, District No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Scott Killough	7,758	97.78%
Unopposed

  

Yelm Community Schools, School Board Director, District No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Eric Heid	1,958	39.54%
Casey Shaw	2,920	58.97%

  

Yelm Community Schools, School Board Director, District No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Allyn Verbal	2,030	40.62%
Denise Hendrickson	2,932	58.68%

  

Yelm Community Schools, School Board Director, District No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Bill Hauss	2,833	56.63%
Karen (Kay) Anderson	2,133	42.63%

  

Fire Protection District No. 3 (Lacey), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Frank Kirkbride	16,923	98.57%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 3 (Lacey), Commissioner, Pos. No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Liberty Hetzler	16,595	98.34%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 6 (Olympia), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Brandon Faust	2,760	98.01%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 8 (South Bay), Commissioner, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Gloria Zvirzdys	3,340	97.92%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 8 (South Bay), Commissioner, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Jake Hunter	3,397	98.32%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 9 (McLane Black Lake), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Len Albert	3,408	98.95%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 9 (McLane Black Lake), Commissioner, Pos. No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Jason A. Foust	3,300	98.65%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 9 (McLane Black Lake), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Mark Thompson	3,408	98.81%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District 12, Commissioner, Pos. No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
James Freed	1,406	96.5%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 13 (Griffin), Commissioner, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Arthur Dalessandro	1,835	98.87%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 13 (Griffin), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Dave Pearsall	1,845	98.77%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 17 (Bald Hills), Commissioner, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Harry W. Miller	672	97.39%
Unopposed

  
SE Thurston Fire Authority, Sub Region 1 Commissioner, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
David Shepherd	3,787	98.16%
Unopposed

  
SE Thurston Fire Authority, Sub Region 2, Commissioner, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Jeff DeHan	3,885	98.58%
Unopposed

  
SE Thurston Fire Authority, Sub Region 3, Commissioner, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Bill DeVore	3,681	97.41%
Unopposed

  

SE Thurston Fire Authority, Sub Region 3, Commissioner, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Steven Slater	3,820	98.63%
Unopposed

 

West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Rochester, Commissioner, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Jeff Merryman	1,927	80.63%
Unopposed

  

West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Littlerock, Commissioner, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Michael Reed	1,714	86.87%
Unopposed

  

Tanglewilde Parks & Recreation District No. 1, Commissioner, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Dayv Lowry	324	97.89%
Unopposed

  

Tanglewilde Parks & Recreation District No. 1, Commissioner, Pos. No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Alexis Wallace	287	94.41%
Unopposed

  

Cemetery District No. 1 (Grand Mound), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Marc S. Spiegelberg	2,669	98.38%
Unopposed

  

Cemetery District No. 2 (Yelm), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3 

Name	Count	Percent
Kristen Colt	3,287	94.45%
Unopposed