Recount reverses Brier election

Published 10:14 pm Friday, December 10, 2010

Last week’s hand recount in the election for a position on the Brier City Council gave challenger Mike Gallagher a two-vote victory over incumbent Councilman Dennis Nick.

Nick led Gallagher by one vote when county officials certified results Nov. 24.

Since the difference was less than 0.25 percent of the two candidates’ votes, officials ordered a hand recount of the nearly 2,400 Brier ballots to determine voter intent on each.

The counting teams found three ballots that machines hadn’t counted for any candidate but where there was indication of intent to vote for a candidate.

All three of those “undervotes” became Gallagher votes, turning his one-vote deficit into a two-vote lead.

Before the recount, Nick attributed the close election to his being the only Brier incumbent with an opponent, making his election the only place citizens had a chance to vote for change.

After the recount gave Gallagher the victory, Nick said that he now knows how Al Gore felt after the 2000 presidential recount.

Lisa Utter on Lynnwood’s election

Lynnwood City Councilwoman Lisa Utter, who gave up her seat to run for mayor in the August primary election, told me recently that Mayor Don Gough’s easy re-election happened because his opponent was unable to win the support of Gough’s other primary challengers and that she was surprised by Councilwoman Ruth Ross’s decisive loss.

Gough, who had taken less than 40 percent of the primary vote against three challengers, scored a 54 percent to 45 percent victory over Councilman Jim Smith.

Utter said that voters who had supported her, Smith and Councilman Loren Simmonds in the primary all were voting “not Gough,” but Smith was unable to win over Utter and Simmonds’ supporters.

Council President Ross lost to challenger Kerri Lonergan by a 64 to 36 percent margin. Utter said Lonergan spent lots of money on mailers to voters. State public disclosure reports show that Lonergan raised and spent $7,829 in addition to $1,600 spent by outside supporters. Ross raised $1,048 and spent $646.Buckshnis on the Edmonds election

Diane Buckshnis, who lost to Edmonds City Councilman Strom Peterson, said after the election that her campaign had been a learning experience and that the campaign and her application for the council vacancy last winter had brought her many friends who became political advisers. She said she would continue to work on community activities, including the dog park, the Edmonds Arts Festival and the Senior Center.

Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@verizon.net.