Vancouver City Councilor Bill Turlay conceded the mayoral race to Tim Leavitt on Thursday, saying that he’s looking forward to working with Leavitt during Leavitt’s second term.
After initial election results were announced Tuesday evening, Turlay expressed hope that remaining ballots would trend overwhelmingly in his favor, a hope he repeated on Wednesday. But shortly after updated results on Thursday showed him gaining only a tiny bit of ground, Turlay conceded.
“Our campaign worked hard. I had great support from my volunteers and those who contributed financially,” said Leavitt, who raised $107,945, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Turlay raised $24,699.
“I look forward to getting refocused on city business and getting down to brass tacks on moving our city forward,” Leavitt said.
He said he also looks forward to Turlay serving as a productive member of the city council. Turlay has two years left in his four-year term.
Turlay, 77, was elected to the council in 2011. When he filed at the last minute to run for mayor, he said he stepped up to run against Leavitt because nobody else did.
Leavitt, a 42-year-old senior civil engineer at PBS Engineering + Environmental, led Turlay by 1,406 votes Election Night.
After 3,300 more ballots were tabulated Wednesday, Leavitt had a 1,351-vote edge.
On Thursday, an additional 3,755 ballots from the city were counted. Leavitt’s lead shrank by one, to 1,350 votes.
The updated results showed Leavitt with 52.14 percent of the vote to Turlay’s 47.05 percent.
Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said approximately 13,000 ballots remain and will be counted Friday. Kimsey doesn’t know how many of the ballots are from the city of Vancouver.
No close races changed with Thursday’s count.
In an Evergreen Public Schools race, incumbent Julie Bocanegra saw her lead shrink from 195 votes to 134 votes over Daniel Poletti. Bocanegra has 49.9 percent of the vote to Poletti’s 49.1 percent.
In a Battle Ground Public Schools race, Jim Pegoraro widened his lead over Mitchell Taylor to 399 votes. Pegoraro has 51.1 percent of the vote to Taylor’s 47.18 percent.
Click here for complete updated Clark County election results.
