Ballots to be certified Tuesday; county and port commissioner winners to be sworn in

Except for two ballots recently discovered in an out-of-service dropbox, all Thurston County ballots have been counted. 

Next Tuesday, November 28, at 12:30 p.m. the Thurston County Auditor will announce the certified election results, with the winning candidates sworn in on the same day. These proceedings are open to the public and will be held at the county's new offices in the Atrium Building at 3000 Pacific Avenue SE. 

Voters approved an increase to the sales tax of $ .002 throughout the county, with most of the funds to be dedicated to public safety categories.  56.36% of ballots were cast in favor of this proposition. 

Total votes cast, less the two described above, were 77,344, which represented 39.32% of the 196,717 registered voters in the county. 

Most contested positions have a clear winner, except for the Rainier City Council No. 2 position, where Ryan Roth only has a one-vote lead over Damion Green, 247 to 246.

 Election winners who ran against an opponent 

• Wayne Fournier and Emily Clouse won seats on the Thurston County Commission. 
• Jasmine Vasavada, Sarah Tonge and Maggie Sanders won seats on the Port of Olympia Commission. 
• Lenny Greenstein retains his seat on the Lacey City Council;  Nicolas Dunning won Position No. 3 on the council.
• Dontae Payne will become the new mayor of Olympia.  He will vacate his District 6 seat on the city council for the District 1 (mayor) seat. Early next year the council will appoint someone to fulfill the final two years of the District 6 position. 
• Ron Kemp received 96.11% of the votes for Rainier City Council, Position No. 4.
• David Waterson won the race for mayor of Tenino.
• Joan Cathey was retained and Kelly Von Holtz won seats on the Tumwater City Council.  
• Tracey Wood, Joseph Dale Richardson and Trevor Palmer won seats on the Yelm City Council.
• Gretchen Maliska retained her seat on the North Thurston Public Schools Board; Esperanza A. Badillo-Diiorio won the seat being vacated by longtime director Graeme Sakrison.  Michelle Gipson defeated incumbent David G. Newkirk. 
• Maria R. Flores and Hilary Seidel retained and Jess Tourtellotte-Palumbo won seats on the Olympia School Board. 
• Amanda Siemandel, Jerry F. Sprouske and Dana Morgan Spivey retained their seats on the Rainier School Board.
• Grant Rodeheaver and Susie Hawes were elected new members of the Rochester School Board; incumbent president/chair James (Neil) turner retained his seat. 
• Jennifer Johnson won a seat on the Tenino School Board; Adam Barr retained his seat. 
• Jill Tokarczyk Adams won Tumwater School District No. 33, School Board Director, District No. 1   
• Tesa Frevert and Blair Baker won their races for seats on the Griffin School Board. 
• Casey Shaw won a seat on the Yelm School Board; Denise Hendrickson and Bill Hauss retained their seats.  

Candidates in all races, including those with only one candidate, are shown below. 

Thurston County Proposition No. 1 – Sales and Use Tax for Law Enforcement Protection, Corresponding Prosecution and Public Defense Services, and Elections Security  

Name	Count	Percent
Approved	40,960	56.36%
Rejected	31,721	43.64%

 

Thurston County Commissioner, District No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Wayne Fournier	36,903	50.16%
Vivian Eason	36,397	49.47%

  

Thurston County Commissioner, District No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Emily Clouse	44,281	59.9%
Terry S. Ballard	29,391	39.76%

  

Port of Olympia Port Commissioner, District No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Jasmine Vasavada	37,340	51.81%
Bill McGregor	34,438	47.78%

  

Port of Olympia Port Commissioner, District No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Rose Chiu Gunderson	35,102	49.16%
Maggie Sanders	35,940	50.34%

  

Port of Olympia Port Commissioner, District No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Sarah Tonge	37,520	52.8%
Troy Kirby	33,237	46.77%

  

Town of Bucoda, Mayor  

Name	Count	Percent
Robert F. Gordon	106	100%
Unopposed

  

Town of Bucoda, Town Council, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Callie Carpenter	95	98.96%
Unopposed

  

Town of Bucoda, Town Council, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Steven Lyle	93	97.89%
Unopposed

  

Town of Bucoda, Town Council, Pos. No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Michelle Layton	96	100%
Unopposed

  

Town of Bucoda, Town Council, Pos. No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Kiersten Presley	97	98.98%
Unopposed

  

City of Lacey, City Council, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Malcolm Miller	9,470	97.54%
Unopposed

  

City of Lacey, City Council, Position No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Spencer Zeman	4,968	43.74%
Lenny Greenstein	6,336	55.79%

  

City of Lacey, City Council, Position No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Nicolas Dunning	7,127	63.62%
Ed Kunkel	3,977	35.5%

  

City of Olympia, Mayor  

Name	Count	Percent
Dontae Payne	11,186	69.52%
David Ross	4,833	30.04%

  

City of Olympia, City Council, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Yen Huynh	11,819	96.2%
Unopposed

  

City of Olympia, City Council, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Dani Madrone	11,837	96.29%
Unopposed

  

City of Rainier, City Council, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Damion Green	246	49.3%
Ryan Roth	247	49.5%

  

City of Rainier, City Council, Pos. No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Ron Kemp	371	96.11%
Unopposed

  

City of Tenino, Mayor  

Name	Count	Percent
David Watterson	250	52.3%
Linda Gotovac	226	47.28%

  

City of Tenino, City Council, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Elaine Klamn	361	97.57%
Unopposed

  

City of Tenino, City Council, Pos. No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Jeff Eisel	354	97.52%
Unopposed

  

City of Tumwater, City Council, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Leatta Dahlhoff	4,608	97.48%
Unopposed

  

City of Tumwater, City Council, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Angela Jefferson	4,708	97.96%
Unopposed

  

City of Tumwater, City Council, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Doris Atkinson	928	16.12%
Joan Cathey	4,757	82.64%

  

City of Tumwater, City Council, Pos. No. 7  

Name	Count	Percent
Andrea McGhee	2,892	47.25%
Kelly Von Holtz	3,199	52.27%

  

City of Yelm, City Council, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Stephanie Kangiser	597	48.77%
Tracey Wood	620	50.65%

  

City of Yelm, City Council, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Joseph Dale Richardson	641	52.63%
Jerry Toompas	569	46.72%

  

City of Yelm, City Council, Pos. No. 6  

Name	Count	Percent
Trevor Palmer	614	50.2%
Ashley Lea Brooks	602	49.22%

  

Centralia School District No. 401-L, School Board Director, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Maritza Bravo	74	94.87%
Unopposed

  

Centralia School District No. 401-L, School Board Director, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Andrea Ware	70	93.33%
Unopposed

  

Centralia School District No. 401-L, School Board Director, Pos. No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Mandi McDougall	36	36%
Sarah Holmes	62	62%

  

Griffin School District No. 324, School Board Director, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Matt Dorcy	1,186	44.47%
Tesa Frevert	1,471	55.16%

  

Griffin School District No. 324, School Board Director, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Emma Rose	1,951	96.92%
Unopposed

  

Griffin School District No. 324, School Board Director, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
David Kangiser	1,019	41.16%
Blair Baker	1,435	57.96%

 

North Thurston Public Schools, School Board Director, District No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Veronica Shriver	11,123	47.14%
Gretchen Maliska	12,362	52.39%

 

North Thurston Public Schools, School Board Director, District No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Stephanie Scott	10,890	46.58%
Esperanza A. Badillo-Diiorio	12,337	52.77%

  

North Thurston Public Schools, School Board Director, District No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Michelle J. Gipson	12,205	51.5%
David G. Newkirk	11,396	48.08%

  

Olympia School District No. 111, School Board Director, District No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Maria R. Flores	13,122	61.02%
Talauna Reed	7,533	35.03%

  

Olympia School District No. 111, School Board Director, District No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Jess Tourtellotte-Palumbo	12,793	59.13%
Frank Durocher	8,770	40.54%

  

Olympia School District No. 111, School Board Director, District No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Hilary Seidel	12,753	59.5%
Leslie Van Leishout	8,552	39.9%

  

Rainier School District No. 307, School Board Director, District No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Amanda Siemandel	724	55.35%
Aaron Lang	577	44.11%

  

Rainier School District No. 307, School Board Director, District No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Jerry F. Sprouffske	724	53.43%
Jon Palmer	624	46.05%

 

Rainier School District No. 307, School Board Director, District No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Dana Morgan Spivey	915	68.23%
Brian Hackethal	423	31.54%

  

Rochester School District No. 401, School Board Director, District No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Grant Rodeheaver	2,002	62.8%
Wava Garza	1,164	36.51%

  

Rochester School District No. 401, School Board Director, District No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Penelope Mena	1,370	42.72%
Susie Hawes	1,814	56.56%

  

Rochester School District No. 401, School Board Director, District No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
James Neil Turner	1,575	50.02%
Michael L. Morrow	1,552	49.29%

  

Tenino School District No. 402, School Board Director, District No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Ryan T. Hilton	416	14.88%
Jennifer Johnson	2,359	84.37%

  

Tenino School District No. 402, School Board Director, District No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Adam Barr	2,156	96.04%
Unopposed

  

Tenino School District No. 402, School Board Director, District No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Jessica Reeves-Rush	2,283	97.77%
Unopposed

  

Tumwater School District No. 33, School Board Director, District No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Jeff (Cowboy) Curry	3,928	37.19%
Jill Tokarczyk Adams	6,566	62.17%

  

Tumwater School District No. 33, School Board Director, District No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Casey Taylor	7,526	91.59%
Unopposed

Tumwater School District No. 33, School Board Director, District No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Scott Killough	8,007	97.78%
Unopposed

  

Yelm Community Schools, School Board Director, District No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Eric Heid	2,030	39.55%
Casey Shaw	3,023	58.89%

  

Yelm Community Schools, School Board Director, District No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Allyn Verbal	2,111	40.78%
Denise Hendrickson	3,029	58.51%

  

Yelm Community Schools, School Board Director, District No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Bill Hauss	2,941	56.69%
Karen (Kay) Anderson	2,208	42.56%

  

Fire Protection District No. 3 (Lacey), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Frank Kirkbride	17,660	98.55%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 3 (Lacey), Commissioner, Pos. No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Liberty Hetzler	17,316	98.31%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 6 (Olympia), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Brandon Faust	2,826	98.06%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 8 (South Bay), Commissioner, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Gloria Zvirzdys	3,491	97.98%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 8 (South Bay), Commissioner, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Jake Hunter	3,548	98.36%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 9 (McLane Black Lake), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Len Albert	3,542	98.94%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 9 (McLane Black Lake), Commissioner, Pos. No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
Jason A. Foust	3,433	98.65%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 9 (McLane Black Lake), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Mark Thompson	3,541	98.8%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District 12, Commissioner, Pos. No. 4  

Name	Count	Percent
James Freed	1,443	96.39%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 13 (Griffin), Commissioner, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Arthur Dalessandro	1,896	98.9%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 13 (Griffin), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Dave Pearsall	1,903	98.81%
Unopposed

  

Fire Protection District No. 17 (Bald Hills), Commissioner, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Harry W. Miller	696	97.21%
Unopposed

  
SE Thurston Fire Authority, Sub Region 1 Commissioner, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
David Shepherd	3,920	98.12%
Unopposed

  
SE Thurston Fire Authority, Sub Region 2, Commissioner, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Jeff DeHan	4,023	98.53%
Unopposed

  
SE Thurston Fire Authority, Sub Region 3, Commissioner, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Bill DeVore	3,810	97.37%
Unopposed

  

SE Thurston Fire Authority, Sub Region 3, Commissioner, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Steven Slater	3,955	98.58%
Unopposed

 

West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Rochester, Commissioner, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Jeff Merryman	1,970	79.79%
Unopposed

  

West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Littlerock, Commissioner, Pos. No. 2  

Name	Count	Percent
Michael Reed	1,761	86.66%
Unopposed

  

Tanglewilde Parks & Recreation District No. 1, Commissioner, Pos. No. 1  

Name	Count	Percent
Dayv Lowry	342	97.71%
Unopposed

  

Tanglewilde Parks & Recreation District No. 1, Commissioner, Pos. No. 5  

Name	Count	Percent
Alexis Wallace	298	93.42%
Unopposed

  

Cemetery District No. 1 (Grand Mound), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3  

Name	Count	Percent
Marc S. Spiegelberg	2,751	98.39%
Unopposed

  

Cemetery District No. 2 (Yelm), Commissioner, Pos. No. 3 

Name	Count	Percent
Kristen Colt	3,395	94.23%
Unopposed

CORRECTION:  November 25, 2023. In the summary at the top of this story, we neglected to include the names of two ballot winners in competitive races.  We regret the errors and have corrected them.