One vote is the margin of difference in Bothell contest

EVERETT — Outcomes in contests for Arlington mayor, Snohomish County treasurer and seats on a pair of city councils remained unsettled Thursday.

In Bothell, a single vote separates candidates for a seat on the City Council following another round of ballot counting.

And the fight on Initiative 976 isn’t over, though passage of the measure lowering the cost of car tabs is certain. Seattle and King County will try to derail it through the courts even as the governor, state lawmakers and local elected officials begin preparing for its anticipated impacts.

As of Thursday, 121,723 ballots had been counted in Snohomish County. Election officials report roughly 80,000 are left to tally. The next update of results is planned for 5 p.m. Friday.

Every vote will be significant in the duel between Mason Thompson and Leigh Henderson in Bothell, which lies in both Snohomish and King counties.

Henderson holds a one-vote lead. She is ahead by 120 votes in King County and trailing Thompson by 119 in Snohomish County.

In Snohomish County, Arlington Mayor Barb Tolbert increased her lead on challenger Don Vanney Jr. for a third straight day.

Tolbert, who has led the city since 2011, had 50.9% and a 55-vote edge, double the advantage she had election night. Vanney is making his first bid for office.

The race for county treasurer between Rob Toyer and Brian Sullivan tightened up.

Toyer, a Marysville City Councilmember, is ahead of Sullivan, a Snohomish County Councilmember, 50.1% to 49.4%. But after the new count, his lead shrunk from 1,064 votes to 710 votes.

“We’re feeling good. We sit by our phones every day waiting for the numbers,” said Peter Condyles, Toyer’s campaign manager. “We remain cautiously optimistic and look forward to tomorrow’s numbers.”

In Lake Stevens, challenger Anji Jorstad remained in front of City Councilwoman Rauchel McDaniel by a mere nine votes. McDaniel led by 17 in the initial results, then fell behind by eight votes Wednesday. If the margin ends up this close, it will trigger a recount.

In Mukilteo, Riaz Khan’s prospects for winning a seat on the City Council brightened slightly. He has 50.5% and his lead on Christopher Maddux in their contest for the Position 5 seat is 53 votes. That’s up from the 24-vote advantage Khan held Wednesday.

In Everett, school board director Jamyang Nhangkar surged Thursday and nearly erased a deficit he’s faced since election night.

Challenger Andrew Nicholls is leading with 50.2 percent, almost two percentage points lower than Tuesday. Nhangkar trails by 207 votes.

David Simpson increased his advantage on Bruce Fingarson in their duel for Fingarson’s seat on the Port of Everett Commission. Simpson, with 50.5%, had a 225-vote lead. That’s up from the 173-vote margin in Wednesday’s count.

Initiative 976 continued to be a flash point Thursday.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and City Attorney Pete Holmes held a press conference to announce the city will file a lawsuit to block the initiative from taking effect. Holmes said it has “fairly obvious legal problems” and said the city will file a joint complaint with King County.

Eyman showed up at Seattle City Hall before the scheduled news conference, saying Seattle and King County are defying the will of the voters.

Statewide, the measure is passing with 54%. In Snohomish County, support stood at 59.7% on Thursday.

I-976 caps most taxes paid through annual vehicle registration at $30 and also largely revokes the authority of state and local governments to add new taxes and fees without voter approval.

Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday directed the state Department of Transportation to postpone projects not yet underway. He also asked other state agencies that receive transportation funding, including the State Patrol and Department of Licensing, to defer nonessential spending as impacts are reviewed.

In Olympia, the Senate and House transportation committees will hold work sessions on the measure’s potential impact on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21, respectively.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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