Recount will decide Lynnwood race; election turnout deemed ‘discouraging’

  • By Jerry Cornfield and Rikki King Herald Writers
  • Tuesday, November 24, 2015 7:40pm
  • Local NewsLocal news

EVERETT — You can put the 2015 general election in the books, though it isn’t quite finished in Lynnwood.

Snohomish County officials on Tuesday certified the final vote totals for the Nov. 3 election but still must conduct a recount to settle a contest for a Lynnwood City Council seat.

In that race, Position 5 incumbent Benjamin Goodwin had 2,745 votes, or 49.94 percent, while challenger Chris Frizzell had 2,726 votes, or 49.59 percent. Because the tallies are within a half-percent difference, a recount is required, Snohomish County elections manager Garth Fell said. Recounts are common in odd-year elections with lots of local races, he said.

Officials plan to separate out the Lynnwood ballots Monday, with a machine recount scheduled for the afternoon of Dec. 3. They expect unofficial results from the recount that day and certified results to follow Dec. 7, Fell said.

Overall, this election didn’t excite most of the county’s registered voters.

Only 34.8 percent of them cast ballots, the lowest percentage since 1971, Fell said.

“It’s discouraging,” Snohomish County Auditor Carolyn Weikel said. “There clearly were important races and important measures on the ballot.”

The marquee match-up produced a new leader for Snohomish County.

County Councilman Dave Somers unseated County Executive John Lovick in a battle of two well-known Democratic Party members.

Somers will assume the reins of executive power in January and a member of his political party will eventually be chosen to fill his council seat. State Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, is considered the most likely to get it, if he applies.

Incumbent County Councilman Brian Sullivan edged Greg Tisdel in another high-profile contest of two Democratic candidates.

Sullivan will now begin a third term representing District 2, an area that stretches almost from Picnic Point to Kayak Point, including Everett, Tulalip, Mukilteo and nearby unincorporated areas. Because of term limits, this will be his final term.

Change is coming to Lynnwood regardless of the outcome of the recount. Three City Council members — Loren Simmonds, Sid Roberts and Van AuBuchon — all lost.

In Index, where voter turnout reached 67 percent, a candidate who lost his bid for one seat on the Town Council won a different seat as a write-in. Robert “Bert” Shepardson lost to Kem Hunter in the race for Position 5, but, as a write-in, beat Chuck Davis for the Position 1 seat.

Community Transit won big this election when voters approved a 0.3 percent increase in the sales tax within the district’s boundaries. The increase will take effect next April.

And with the final results, membership on the 15-member Charter Review Commission is now set.

John Koster, a former County Councilman, won a seat in District 1. He also captured the most votes, which could position him to serve as chairman.

Other notable winners include Democratic state Sen. Marko Liias, Mukilteo Mayor Jennifer Gregerson, former state Rep. Doug Roulstone, former county elections chief Bob Terwilliger, and well-known restaurateur Shawn O’Donnell.

Rounding out the commission are Jim Donner, Ray Miller, Dan Matthews, Natalia Fior, Carin Chase, Cheryl Stanford, Ed Barton, Kristin Kelly and Wendy Valentine.

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.comBox

nal Snohomish County election results are online at www.snoco.org/elections

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.