Snohomish County Councilman Dave Somers is expected to defend his 5th District seat in November after grabbing more than half the votes tallied so far in the primary election, but the race to challenge the Democrat remains too close to call.
Republican Steve Dana of Snohomish had 2,892 votes, or 19.2 percent of the total. Lake Stevens Mayor Vern Little, also a Republican, had 2,804 votes, about 18.6 percent.
Somers’ 7,987 votes gave him 53 percent of votes so far.
The results were posted on the Snohomish County Auditor’s Office Web site a few minutes after 8 p.m. They are not final.
Around a quarter of the votes remain to be counted, since tonight’s tally doesn’t include ballots mailed or put in drop boxes on Tuesday. Auditor Carolyn Weikel predicted that turnout would be around 25 percent. The county must certify the results by Sept. 2.
Maltby activist Greg Stephens, who announced his withdrawal from the race earlier this month as past criminal charges came to light, still managed to get 1,185 votes, or almost 7.9 percent of those counted.
The 5th District was the only contested race in the primary. In two other contests, both candidates advanced automatically to the Nov. 3 general election under the state’s primary rules.
Two-term incumbent Councilman John Koster, a Republican, is trying to fend off Democrat Ellen Hiatt Watson in the 1st Council District in the northern part of the county.
Another two-term councilman, Democrat Dave Gossett in the suburban 4th District in the southern part of the county, has opposition from Republican Bob Meador, a former Lynnwood fire chief who serves as an elected commissioner with Stevens Hospital and Snohomish County Fire District 1.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
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