General Election Results: 11/7/23

Voters got their first look at who could be leading the area in 2024.

Results from the first count of the General Election in Grays Harbor and Pacific counties were released Tuesday night, giving a view of where the election could go.

7 of the 9 Mayors within Grays Harbor and 1 in Pacific County were on the ballot in the General Election, with only one race guaranteed to see an incumbent move forward.

Hoquiam Mayor Ben Winkelman ran unopposed in the election, as did Montesano Councilmember-turned-Mayoral candidate Tyler Trimble. 

Ocean Shores Mayor Jon Martin, the only sitting Mayor running opposed, is trailing after initial results. Frank Elduen holds a 56.6% lead over the incumbent who took the role following the passing of former Mayor Crystal Dingler.

In Aberdeen, it is too close to call in the Mayor race between Doug Orr and current Councilmember Debi Pieraccini, as Orr holds a slight lead of 2 votes with 49.55% over Pieraccini and 49.43%. 

The race for Elma Mayor shows current Councilmember Josh Collette leading John Heater, with a commanding 74.86% of the turnout.

In Cosmopolis, Linda Springer leads Steve Davis 69.38% to 30.35%.

Ed Welter is leading Greg Barnes for the role of Westport Mayor with his 57.53% lead.

For the only Pacific County Mayor race on the ballot, Sue Svendsen is poised to lead Long Beach into the new year, leading Patrick Reddy with 59% to 40%.

In City Council seats, Aberdeen looks to see Scott Prato, Stan Sidor, Riley Carter, and Sydney Newbill leading for the official roles at the start of the year.

Cosmopolis will see 4 out of 5 new councilmembers with Kim Skinner, Jeremy Winn, Justin Spargo, and Sue Darcy currently leading for the seats.

In Hoquiam, a sitting councilmember is looking to hold his appointed seat as Greg Larsen holds a 63.44% lead over Maxwell Davis. Davis was appointed to fill a vacancy in October for the other seat in the ward.

Elma contested races show current Councilmember Mike Cooper and Jacob Borden leading their races.

Ocean Shores races are showing Thomas Taylor leading Bob Peterson 53.39% to 46.38%; Susan Conniry leads Lisa Griebel 50.27% to 49.4%; Allison Cline leading Caroline Emmert 58.22% to 41.56%; and PJ Faria leading Richard Wills with 50.69% of the vote.

Within Westport, Troy Meyers and Darcia Davis lead their opponents with 53.68% and 54.01% respectively.

For Pacific County, the contested South Bend City Council race shows Wyatt Kuiken leading Craig Spredeman with 55.43% of the vote.

While the majority of school board races featured unopposed candidates, Chris Bryson leads Bryce Puvogel for a Hoquiam School Board seat, Tom Moonan leads Melissa Ashlock for McCleary School Board, Jacob James is leading Richie Underwood for Taholah School Board, Jan McDonald leads for North River, and Ryan Tully in Raymond.

The North Beach School Board race featured three contested races. As of Tuesday, current School Board President Jeff Albertson is leading challenger Rickie Day, Joe Lomedico has a 51.68% lead over Halvar Olstead, and Susan Rogers leads Robert Doering Jr.

For measures, Ambulance and Emergency Medical Services Funding in Pacific County is passing with 74% of the vote.

As of Tuesday, 9,056 ballots were accounted for in Grays Harbor, while 5,355 ballots were counted in Pacific.

As of Tuesday, only 18.55% of voters have had their votes counted in Grays Harbor and 31.8% in Pacific.

The election is set to be certified on November 28, 2023.