DARRINGTON — Rock, paper, scissors.
That’s the method incumbent Mayor Joyce Jones and challenger Town Councilman Dan Rankin might use to figure out who serves the next four years as the mayor of Darrington.
Teasing aside, this political race between friends remains close.
On Tuesday, initial election results showed the candidates tied 118 to 118 votes. Two days later, Rankin moved ahead by one vote: 120 to 119. His lead grew by six votes on Friday: 155 to 149.
Jones, 77, is not yet ready to concede. She plans to wait for all the votes to be counted.
“But whatever happens will be fine. I will continue to serve my community in some way. My work as mayor has been rewarding. I believe people are pleased with the job I have done,” Jones said. “Dan is younger. He may be better able to make sure county officials know we are still here and still need their help.”
Rankin, 50, expects that he received fewer votes from what he calls the “over-60 crowd.”
“They vote early, so I hope the remaining ballots go my way,” Rankin said. “I was a little disappointed that the margin was so close. But what did I expect? Joyce has been good for Darrington. We ran honorable campaigns. I respect my elders.”
Jones and Rankin joked that they plan to find out who the four voters are who cast ballots for write-in candidates. They also are ready to be drafted for congressional service in Washington, D.C., where people need to learn how to get along, they said.
The Darrington mayoral race isn’t the only election race that could qualify for a recount, but final results won’t be available until Nov. 29, said Garth Fell, Snohomish County elections manager.
A machine recount is triggered when the final vote count between two candidates is less than one-half of 1 percent, Fell said. A hand recount occurs when the difference between candidates is less than one-quarter of 1 percent.
Snohomish County election officials counted another 33,064 ballots Friday, bringing the total number of ballots counted to 163,220. That’s about 42 percent of the total number of ballots sent out. Officials expect to continue receiving and counting ballots in the all-mail election. The next update is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday.
Here are the latest results in other tight races:
Edmonds City Council
Council appointee Diane Buckshnis led Bob Wilcox by 135 votes — 5,917 to 5,782 or 50 percent to 49 percent.
Councilman D.J. Wilson lagged behind challenger Joan Bloom by 47 votes. Bloom has 5,688 votes or 50 percent to Wilson’s 5,641 or 49.6 percent.
In a race that got closer Friday, Lora Petso has a five-vote lead in the Position 7 council race with Darlene Stern. Petso has 5,574 to Stern’s 5,569 votes.
Lynnwood City Council
Benjamin Goodwin has a 116-vote lead over Ed Dos Remedios in the Position 5 race — 3,089 to 2,973 votes or 50.7 percent to 48.8 percent.
In the Position 6 race, Sid Roberts remains ahead of longtime Councilman Ted Hikel, 50.9 percent to 48.7 percent or 3,120 votes to 2,984.
Councilman Jim Smith has a 44-vote lead over challenger Van AuBuchon with 3,035 votes or 50 percent to 2,991 votes or 49 percent of the vote.
Monroe City Council
Councilman Jim Kamp’s lead over former Councilman Mitch Ruth slipped to 8 votes in the Position 4 race. Kamp has 1,382 votes or 49.9 percent to Ruth’s 1,374 or 49.6 percent of the vote.
In the Position 5 race, Todd Fredrickson lost his lead and now is tied with opponent Ed Davis, 1,344 to 1,344 votes.
Mukilteo City Council
Incumbent Emily Vanderwielen’s five-vote lead on challenger Terry Preshaw disappeared. Preshaw now leads in the vote count by 13 votes. Preshaw has 2,551 or 49.7 percent of the votes to Vanderwielen’s 2,538 or 49.5 percent.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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