The fourth count of ballots from the 2015 Primary Election has been completed and, with one notable exception, trends established on election night in races for the six Yakima City Council positions continue to hold. The top two vote getters in each race move on to the November 8th General Election.
In Yakima City Council District 1, Dulce Gutiérrez now has 80.76%. Russell Montiero has 10.96%, and Llosimar Garcia has 5.15%.
Following the last count of ballots that will be done this week, Avina Gutiérrez now has 35.38% of the vote, Maud Scott has 29.78%, Pablo Gonzalez has 22.02%, and Edgar Moreno has 12.45%.
In District 3, the top two vote getters have switched places. Carmen Méndez had trailed Kelly Rosenow since election night. After the fourth count of ballots, however, Méndez now leads Rosenow 28.78% to 28.51%. Patricia Byers has 23.11%, Justin Cawley has garnered 9.53%, and Nicholas Kline has 9.39%.
The four primary candidates in District 4 are still led by incumbent Councilmember Bill Lover with 51.70%. Lover is followed by Tony Sandoval with 24.47%, Tony Williams with 15.12%, and Larry Breer with 7.52%.
The District 5 primary returns continue to be led by incumbent Councilmember and current Assistant Mayor Kathy Coffey who has 51.27%, Reed Pell has 18.54%, Phil Allard has 16.67% of the total, and Gordon Heintzman has so far received 12.60% of the vote.
Incumbent Councilmember Maureen Adkison continues to lead her two District 6 challengers with 55.98% of the vote. Gavin Keefe has 25.39% and Adam Yoest has received 17.70% of the vote.
The District 7 race features just two candidates, Holly Cousens and Gunnar Berg, so no primary was needed in that district. Both Cousens and Berg will advance to the November General Election.
Additional ballot counts will be conducted next week. Ballot counts will continue periodically until all of the ballots that were received before the midnight August 4th deadline have been tabulated. The 2015 Primary Election will be certified on August 18th.