The election is over — but for recounts in three races

EVERETT — The curtain came down on the 2019 election season Tuesday.

Not all the way, however.

Snohomish County Auditor Carolyn Weikel certified results of the Nov. 5 election which saw voters install a new sheriff, choose a new county council member and fill a bunch of mayoral posts and seats on school boards, fire commissions and city councils.

Then she directed ballots be recounted by hand in races for seats on the Everett School Board, the Bothell City Council and the South County Regional Fire Authority commission. State law requires they be done because the margin of difference in each is less than 0.25%

This election, Weikel’s last before retiring, drew 204,160 voters for a turnout of 43%. That’s the highest for an odd-year general election since 2011 when participation reached 52%, according to county figures. And it’s a marked improvement from the 32.7 % recorded in 2017 and 34.8% in 2015.

Adam Fortney pulled off one of the biggest surprises when he unseated his boss, Sheriff Ty Trenary. Fortney, a sergeant in the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, will now guide the department and manage county jail operations for the next four years.

Megan Dunn, who led the effort to bring district elections to Everett, will soon take a seat on the Snohomish County Council. Dunn, a Democrat, defeated Republican Anna Rohrbough, who is a member of the Mukilteo City Council.

The contest for a city council seat in Bothell between first-time candidates Leigh Henderson and Mason Thompson was the closest of this election. Henderson led election night but Thompson enters the recount with a four-vote lead.

Bothell lies partly in Snohomish and King counties. Election officials in King County are planning to certify their share of the results at 10 a.m. Dec. 6. Snohomish County is looking to finish Dec. 9 or 11.

Andrew Nicholls is 37 votes ahead of Jamyang Dorjee Nhangkar in their duel for a six-year term on the Everett Public Schools Board of Directors. Nicholls, a first-time candidate, is looking to unseat Nhangkar, who was appointed last year to the policy-setting board for the Everett School District.

On Tuesday, both men said they don’t expect the recount will alter the outcome.

“I don’t see it changing that much but anything can happen,” Nicholls said. “All I can do is wait and see.”

Nhangkar never led in ballot counting since election night but did close to within nine votes at one point.

“With the recount, I try to be as optimistic as I can,” he said.

Greg Urban holds a 35-vote advantage on Nicholas Gullickson in their contest for a six-year term as the South County Fire commissioner for District 2. With almost 32,000 votes cast, that works out to a difference of only 0.11 %.

There were a few close decisions that became final Tuesday.

Arlington Mayor Barb Tolbert is getting a third term but not with a mandate. She beat Don Vanney Jr. 50.2% to 49.5% with only 32 votes separating them.

While the number of votes is small, the percentage difference of 0.7 exceeds state requirements for a hand or machine recount.

In another closely watched race, Brian Sullivan will continue his political career after collecting 50.2% to beat Rob Toyer for the job of Snohomish County treasurer. Sullivan is in his third and final term on the Snohomish County Council. He is a former Democratic state lawmaker and mayor of Mukilteo.

Complete results can be found on the Snohomish County auditor’s website.

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@herald net.com. Twitter: @dospueblos.