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