EVERETT — With only a handful of votes left to count and results beginning to slow, patterns emerged across the county following Tuesday’s primary election.
Political newcomers make waves …
As a large number of first-time candidates sought a multitude of positions across the county, many of them ended up seeing success.
In Lynnwood’s Position 3 race, political newcomer Bryce Owings took a slight lead over incumbent Josh Binda, who has served on the council since 2022. Tyler Hall, also a newcomer, only trailed Binda by 2 points as of Thursday.
Two city council races, one in Marysville and one in Everett, saw fields of five candidates made up mostly of political newcomers. In Everett’s District 1, the two winners — Sam Hem and Erica Weir — had never sought political office before.
Marysville’s Position 3 race was similar. Dan Perkins, the top candidate in the race, is a fifth-grade teacher. The two candidates battling for the second-place spot on the November ballot are an educator, Amber Cantu, and a brewery owner, R.J. Whitlow.
Edmonds’ Position 3 race was filled with three newcomers, with small-business owner Erika Barnett and nonprofit executive Alex Newman making strong showings.
In Everett’s District 4, the field of three candidates had also never served in public office. But that’s not to say none had political experience. Niko Battle, the frontrunner, works as a political consultant, and runner-up Alan Rubio ran for a wastewater board seat in 2023.
In Mukilteo, James Sterba held a 7-point lead at the front of a pack of five candidates, ahead of former City Council member Riaz Khan and frequent candidate Carolyn Carlson.
… sometimes.
A few races, though, saw more established candidates hold on to strong leads.
In Everett, two well-known local political figures, Cassie Franklin and Scott Murphy, took the top two spots on the November ballot over first-time candidates Janice Greene and Rich Ryan.
That didn’t come without big spending. Combined, both Franklin and Murphy raised over $330,000 for the primary race.
But those aren’t unprecedented budgets for a mayoral campaign in Everett. In 2017, a four-way race between Franklin, City Council member Judy Touhy, County Council member Brian Sullivan and substitute teacher Shean Nasin saw voters make over $460,000 in contributions through the course of the entire campaign.
Incumbent City Council member Paula Rhyne also maintained a strong lead of nearly 17 points lead over challenger Ryan Crowther.
In Lynnwood, Position 1 incumbent Derica Escamilla held a 12-point lead over challenger Dio Boucsieguez. Boucsieguez ran for Lynnwood City Council in 2019 but has never held public office.
Conservative school board candidates advance
Although school board races in Washington are nonpartisan under state law, two Northshore School District candidates with conservative ties drew enough support to secure spots in the general election.
JoAnn Tolentino, a candidate for Northshore’s District 4, received 27% of votes. In June, community members found social media posts from Tolentino that indicated she was at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection in 2021. She confirmed she was in attendance that day in a statement to The Daily Herald. She said she was there as an observer and did not enter the Capitol building.
One of her campaign priorities is ensuring “fair athletic policies” by banning transgender girls from playing in girls sports. In a May interview, she said she agreed with President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
District 5 candidate Lynda Schram serves as secretary for the King County Republican Party and is an administrator for the King County Moms for Liberty Facebook group. Moms for Liberty is a national conservative nonprofit that has advocated for banning books while opposing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and COVID-19 safety measures in schools.
She received 24% of the vote, beating community organizer Holly Muenchow by more than 2,700 votes. Schram mainly campaigned on preventing transgender girls from playing in girls sports, according to her statement in the county voters’ pamphlet.
Northshore school board is a multi-county race, with the district straddling the border between Snohomish and King counties. Both candidates received slightly more support from Snohomish County voters — Schram by 2 points and Tolentino by 1.
Fire levies see resounding support
Voters overwhelmingly approved three fire levy lid lifts on ballots across the county, each by a margin of at least 20%.
In Marysville, voters approved a fire levy with 64% of the vote, increasing property taxes for the average homeowner by about $18 per month. The approval comes just two years after voters renewed an emergency medical services levy.
North County Regional Fire Authority and Snohomish County Fire District No. 4 voters approved levies with 62% and 60% of the vote, respectively. The levies will fund both fire and EMS services. Residents in North County Fire’s service area will see a tax increase of about $7.50 per month for the average homeowner. For District No. 4, which includes Snohomish, the increase is about $6 per month.
While levies for the three departments have historically passed, other fire departments in the county have faced difficulties. Fire District No. 21, which includes rural communities surrounding Arlington, saw three failed levies in a row from 2021 to 2023 until voters approved a levy in 2024. In Mukilteo, voters rejected EMS levies in 2023 and 2024. In May, the city voted to try again for a levy on the November ballot.
Turnout was around expected levels (still very low)
Turnout numbers hovered around 24% as of Thursday, county returns show. It’s on pace to be similar to the past two off-year primaries, where about 27% of voters returned a ballot.
As of Thursday, the city with the highest turnout by far was Edmonds, where around 38% of voters cast a ballot. Marysville saw the lowest turnout at 23%.
South Everett’s District 4 saw only 16% of voters cast their votes — the least of any race on the ballot.
Voters also skewed older. More than two thirds of those who returned a ballot were over 55 years old, county data showed.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.
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