By Evan Smith, Herald writer
Appointed incumbent Lynnwood City Councilman Christopher Boyer, former Councilwoman Ruth Ross and Planning Commissioner Ian Cotton appear to be headed for victory in Lynnwood Council races.
All held clear leads with about 95 percent of ballots counted through Friday.
County officials had counted 7,177 Lynnwood ballots through Friday afternoon, leaving 361 uncounted ballots among the 7,538 that had arrived by Friday morning. They plan to release updated results Tuesday afternoon.
Boyer, who holds the seat formerly held by dismissed Councilwoman Kimberly Cole, leads second-time candidate Michael Moore 54 percent to 45 percent.
Ross, who lost to Councilwoman Kerry Lonergan-Dreke four years ago, was poised to reclaim the position with 53.2 percent of the vote to 44.4 percent for real-estate broker Douglas Lovitt. Write-in votes made up only 2.4 percent despite a registered write-in campaign by city diversity commissioner Shirley Sutton. Lonergan-Dreke did not run for a second term.
Cotton led former Councilman Jim Smith 54 percent to 45 percent, with a 552-vote lead far exceeding his four-vote lead in the August primary. They were running for the position that Councilman Mark Smith gave up to run for mayor in the primary.
In the race for mayor, challenger Nicola Smith continued to lead incumbent Don Gough 60 percent to 39 percent.
Money was a big factor in the election, with a total of $79,571 raised by the eight candidates in the general election and six others who lost in the primary. With $8,557 in independent expenditures on behalf of Nicola Smith and council candidate Douglas Lovitt, the total comes to $88,128 or $11.69 per voter.
Nicola Smith raised $24,777 and spent $22,538 in addition to a $3,045 independent expenditure from the Affordable Housing Council, the political arm of the Master Builders Association. Independent expenditures are not subject to the $900 contribution limit but can’t be coordinated with the candidate or her campaign; the Affordable Housing Council did give Smith $900 for the primary and $900 for the general election. Gough raised $28,108, much of it in personal contributions, and spent $27,951.
Lovitt led council candidates, reporting having raised $3,500 and spent $2,287, with independent expenditures of $5,512, most coming from the Washington Association of Realtors and some from the Affordable Housing Council. Apparent winning candidate Ross reported raising $449 and spending $646 with a $200 campaign debt. Boyer raised $1,970 and spent $743, compared to no fundraising or spending for Moore. Cotton raised and spent no money in defeating Jim Smith, who reported raising $1,500 and spending $1,341.
When Nicola Smith, Boyer, Cotton and Ross take office in December, seven of the eight people at the council table will be different from the eight who were at the table two years ago. That’s because in addition to Smith’s and Cotton’s being new and Ross’s returning after four years, three councilmen were newly elected two years ago, and Boyer was appointed late last year, leaving fourth-term Councilman Loren Simmonds as the only elected Lynnwood official with more than two years of service,
Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.
