ISLAND COUNTY — Two mayoral races and three city council positions were up for grabs in two cities in Island County.
Oak Harbor: Incumbent Mayor Patty Cohen appeared to have withstood a strong challenge from City Councilman Bob Morrison in early returns.
Cohen, 57, had won easily in the primary, but Morrison, 61, had hoped to pick up votes from supporters of City Councilman Eric Gerber, who was ousted in the primary.
In the two contested City Council races, Sue Karahalios appeared to be an easy winner over Clairann Haney.
Karahalios was not willing to declare victory. Even with a comfortable lead, the large majority of votes still had yet to be counted. "This is early you know. I won’t say anything ‘til it gets to the end. You just don’t know what the voters could do," Karahalios said.
The two candidates offered distinct differences. Karahalios, 54, is a former state representative who represented the 10th District as a Democrat. Haney, 47, is active with the local Republican Party.
In the other Oak Harbor council race, Larry Eaton appeared to have the edge in a close race with Nora O’Connell-Balda.
Eaton, a 60-year-old former councilman, based his challenge by saying the incumbent, O’Connell-Balda, 69, was one of two council members involved in selling real estate. Eaton said he offered a necessarily different perspective.
Voters apparently agreed, preferring him over O’Connell-Balda’s focus on improving the city’s business climate.
Langley: Not enough votes had been counted in Langley to predict the outcome of two contested races.
For mayor, City Councilman Neil Colburn faced a friend, Will Collins.
Colburn, 55, a self-described "lifelong Democrat," has served on the City Council for 14 years. He gave up his seat to run for mayor.
Collins, 57, supports a marina expansion to cater to bigger yachts, while Colburn would prefer to favor small-boat owners.
In the other council race, James Recupero faced challenger Kirk Gardner .
Gardner mistakenly filed to run against Recupero instead of for a vacant position, but he stayed in the race anyway.
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