SNOHOMISH COUNTY — Incumbents seem to have prevailed in most county races if preliminary results are any indication.
In the race for Snohomish County Council District 1, incumbent John Koster is leading with 11,016 votes (55.6 percent) over challenger Ellen Hiatt Watson, who has 8,722 (44.02 percent) of the votes.
Koster, a Republican, said that he’s glad that voters decided to reach across party lines and elect him.
“I’ve been out door-belling since April and did almost 13,000 doors,” Koster said Wednesday, April 4. “We did the work and I think people recognize balance and a common sense approach.”
Watson said she was looking forward to moving ahead with her life, and said that she was proud of how her campaign was organized.
“We gave it our absolute best,” Watson said. “We’re facing an entrenched incumbent and we improved over our primary numbers. We just needed more time and we didn’t have enough.”
For the Superior Court Judge Position No. 2, incumbent Joe Wilson appears to have won with 31,147 votes (39.94 percent), besting David Hulbert (12,599, 16.16 percent), Rico Tessandore (23,010, 29.51 percent), Scott Peterson (6,516 votes, 8.36 percent) and Scott Lord (4,249 votes, 5.45 percent).
Margo Powell leads Jeff Cartwright for the Hospital District Commissioner No. 3 position. Powell has 2,640 votes (57.47 percent) compared to Cartwright’s 1,918 votes (41.95 percent).
The Sno-Isle District Levy appears to be passing with 51.34 percent of the vote (36,893 votes).
The levy requires a simply majority, or 50 percent plus 1 vote, to pass.
Sno-Isle Libraries Community Relations Director Mary Kelly said that it’s too close to call a victory, but said that she’s glad that the votes are heading in the right direction.
“People really responded to how we weren’t asking for the maximum levy increase,” Kelly said. “We’re making additional cuts even if the levy passed and that really resonated with people.”
If the levy does not pass, library spending will be cut by $2.5 million, according to Sno-Isle Libraries Director Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory.
