When Tacoma voters went to the polls Tuesday, it was certain that there would be at least two new faces on the City Council next year, with term limits preventing at large Position No. 7 council member Sharon McGavick from running again and District 3 council member Bil Moss not seeking re-election.
Meanwhile, there could be a third new face on the council, with Doug Miller, who represents District 1, locked in a race too close to call.
Unofficial election results from the Pierce County Auditors Office show the races shaping up like this:
Tacoma City Council:
District 1: Spiro Manthou, 3,940 votes (50.77 percent); incumbent Doug Miller, 3,799 votes (48.95 percent).
District 3: Tom Stenger, 1,824 votes (51.55 percent); Amy Heller, 1,693 votes (47.85 percent).
At large Position No. 7: Julie Anderson, 14,822 votes (60.21 percent); Angela Strege, 9,656 votes (39.22 percent).
At large Position No. 8: Incumbent Bill Evans, 15,492 votes (64.53 percent); Michele Reich, 8,410 votes (35.03 percent).
Tacoma Civil Service
Position No. 3: Denise Greer, 13,904 votes (62.07 percent); Annette Swillie, who was appointed in 2002 to fill an unexpired term, 7,855 votes (37.23 percent).
Tacoma School District No. 10 Director
Position No. 2: Connie Rickman, 16,366 votes (67.84 percent); Eula McMillian Jones, 7,491 votes (31.05 percent).
Position No. 4: Kurt Miller, 20,518 votes (98.50 percent).
Port of Tacoma Commissioner
Position No. 3: Incumbent Jack Fabulich, 61,177 votes (66.64 percent); Paul Cyr, 30,085 votes (32.77 percent).
Position No. 5: Incumbent Clare Petrich, 77,984 votes (98.36 percent).
Pierce County Council
District No. 6: Richard Dick Muri, 9,669 votes (96.18 percent).
Superior Court Judge
Department No. 17: Incumbent Ronald Culpepper, 55,195 votes (59.22 percent); Doug Schafer, 37,352 votes (40.08 percent).
Pierce County Proposition No. 1
This ballot issue called for a sales tax increase of three-tenths of one percent to increase funding for the hiring of more police officers. Voters were rejecting it, with 62,664 no votes (58.86 percent) to 43,803 yes votes (41.14 percent).
Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg, who supported the measure, released a statement regarding the failure of Proposition 1:
Our deputies will come to work tomorrow, as usual. So will our prosecutors, public defenders, judges, corrections officers and those who help the abused, addicted and mentally ill. They will do everything in their power to keep us safe. Its a difficult task. It will only get tougher. We will continue to seek ways to bring our crime rate down and make this county an even better place to work and live. In the meantime, our citizens can rest assured those who work in law enforcement and criminal justice will go above and beyond the call, just as they did yesterday and will do again tomorrow.
Results in Pierce County on two statewide ballot issues roughly mirrored those of the state at large.
Initiative 841, which repeals the states sweeping ergonomics rules, was drawing 53 percent support with over half of the expected ballots counted.
Pierce County voters were approving the measure, with 53,693 yes votes (51.74 percent) to 50,090 no votes (48.26 percent).
House Joint Resolution 4206, a constitutional amendment to speed up the filling of legislative and county vacancies, was winning 82 percent of the vote statewide. In Pierce County, 88,778 yes votes (78.10 percent) have been counted, to 22,651 no votes (21.90 percent).
Pierce County has 355,171 registered voters, according to the Pierce County Auditors Office.
Unofficial election results thus far show a total of 108,688 ballots cast – 19,648 at the polls and 89,040 absentee – in Pierce County for a voter turnout rate of just under 31 percent.
The next update of unofficial election results by the Pierce County Auditors Office is scheduled for 4 p.m. today. Certified results are due Nov. 19.
