With the exception of in District 3, the second count of ballots from the 2015 General Election has done little to change the outcome of the seven Yakima City Council races being contested.
So far, turnout in Yakima County for the 2015 General Election is just over 25%. Of the 108,263 ballots issued, 27,415 have been returned. The Auditor’s office has estimated the final turnout will be in the neighborhood of 36% to 38%. Yakima County uses an all-mail-in voting system, so ballots that are postmarked before midnight on November 3rd will still be considered valid for the General Election.
In Yakima City Council District 1, Dulce Gutiérrez built on her election night lead over Russell Montiero by a little more than two percentage points and now has 83.90% (370 votes) versus 13.15% (58 votes) for Montiero.
Avina Gutiérrez pulled in about 61.00% of the vote in District 2 in the first count and has now extended her lead over Maud Scott 66.98% (361 votes) to 32.65% (176 votes).
In District 3, Carmen Méndez grew her election night lead over Kelly Rosenow by more than five percentage points and currently has 52.90% (785 votes) of the vote while Rosenow has 45.62% (677 votes).
Incumbent Councilmember Bill Lover has lost a little more than one percentage point from his lead over is District 4 challenger, Tony Sandoval, that he had after last night’s count. Lover has 60.42% of the vote (658 votes) while Sandoval has brought in 38.20% (416 votes).
Current Assistant Mayor Kathy Coffey’s lead over Reed Pell in District 5 has remained essentially unchanged since election night. Coffey has been supported by 62.57% of voters (1,125 votes) while Pell has pulled in 36.71% (660 votes).
Incumbent Councilmember Maureen Adkison’s lead over her challenger, Gavin Keefe, in District 6 has risen less than a percentage point from last night’s total and now stands at 57.56 % (1,691 votes) to 41.35% (1,215 votes).
Holly Cousens’ lead over Gunner Berg in District 7 also remains virtually unchanged since the first count of ballots was completed. Cousens has received 58.08% (1,304 votes) of the votes compared to 40.89% (918 votes) for Berg.
A ballot measure to continue a 3/10ths of 1% sales tax throughout Yakima County to fund public safety efforts is now being supported by 74.45% of voters (19,850 votes) compared to about 73% after the first count and opposed by 25.55% (6,798 votes).
The 2015 General Election also featured city council races in Yakima County’s 13 other cities and towns as well as mayor races in Grandview, Granger, Harrah, Moxee, Naches, Selah, Tieton, and Wapato. Seats on special purpose district boards, such as school districts, fire district, and port districts, were also up for election. School district bond measures in East Valley, Toppenish, and Zillah were on the ballot this time around and the Selah Parks and Recreation District is asking voters to approve funding for a new aquatics facility.
Two statewide initiatives and four statewide advisory votes were also on the ballot.
Additional ballot counts will be conducted over the next few days.
Ballot counts will continue periodically until all of the ballots that were received before the midnight November 3rd deadline have been tabulated. The 2015 General Election will be certified on November 24th.
Second Count of General Election Ballots Released – News Release