7 takeaways from Tuesday’s Snohomish County election results

There’s so much news and so little time. So here’s what’s noteworthy about the 2021 general election in Snohomish County. Oh, and keep in mind that results will change as vote counts are updated in coming days.

Everett Mayor wins re-election (story)

Everett’s first female elected mayor just won her second term. Cassie Franklin was narrowly elected mayor in 2017 and will now serve another four years as head of Snohomish County’s largest municipality. Early results Tuesday night showed Franklin with 7,492 votes (73.6%) compared to her opponent, Steve Oss, with 2,604 votes (25.6%). And in the Everett City Council’s first general election with districts, there was a wave of first-time elected officials.

Gold Bar votes age over youth

Steven Yarbrough appears to have defeated someone nearly four decades his younger to become Gold Bar’s next mayor. Yarbrough, 60, a retired union electrician who runs a small computer repair company, ran against Jordan Sears, a 22-year old who first took office two years ago as likely the youngest city council member elected in state history. Early election results put Yarbrough with 134 votes (60.6%), ahead of Sears at 86 votes (38.9%).

Snohomish mayor is losing (story)

In the race to lead the city of Snohomish, City Councilmember Linda Redmon pulled ahead with 1,009 votes (54.5%) Tuesday. If she maintains her lead, the current council president will unseat incumbent Mayor John Kartak, who had 837 votes (45.2%). Kartak’s first term has been controversial. Armed residents and others showed up on a downtown street in 2020 in response to rumored trouble. Kartak defended their presence. Redmon is possibly the first woman of color to be the town’s mayor.

Third time isn’t the charm in Mukilteo council race … (story)

Louis Harris, Mukilteo’s first Black City Council member, appears to have hung on to his seat. Harris, a public benefits specialist for the state, was appointed in 2020 to the Position 1 seat vacated by Anna Rohrbough when she moved out of state. Harris received 2,324 votes (53.0%). His opponent Peter Zieve, owner of the Electroimpact aerospace company, received 2,049 votes (46.7%). This election looks to be Zieve’s third unsuccessful run for council.

… But it was for Mukilteo’s former mayor (story)

Joe Marine made history, becoming the first person elected to three terms as Mukilteo mayor. Incumbent Mayor Jennifer Gregerson defeated Marine at the polls in 2013, and she was re-elected in 2017. But Tuesday night, Marine, a two-term former mayor, ousted the two-term current mayor. Marine has 2,571 votes (58.4%) and Gregerson has 1,822 votes (41.4%).

Lake Stevens City Council incumbents hold on

More than $31,000 in campaign contributions to the four incumbent Lake Stevens City Council members running for re-election came from donors with ties to real estate and development. So, did the investment pay off? Well, all four were winning their races Tuesday night — Kim Daughtry, Gary Petershagen, Steve Ewing and Marcus Tageant. However, Petershagen, with 2,171 votes (50.0%), only leads opponent Joyce Copley by 18 votes, and Tageant, with 2,192 votes (50.8%), is ahead of Joseph Jensen by 86 votes.

Student joins City Council in Lynnwood

A college student appears to have been elected to the Lynnwood City Council. Joshua Binda, 21, is a political science major at the University of Washington Bothell. He’s also chair of the city’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission. He’s running for the Position 3 seat. As of Tuesday, results put Binda with 1,899 votes (51.2%) and his opponent, Lisa Utter, with 1,747 votes (47.1%).

Related articles:

• 2021 general election results for Snohomish County

• Anti-mandate school board candidates see mixed results here

• Snohomish County Council incumbents cruise to victory

• The Herald’s Jerry Cornfield talks about the election results