With the release of a new batch of ballots Thursday, Clark County council chair candidates Marc Boldt and Mike Dalesandro declared victory over all three sitting county councilors.
Republican Councilor David Madore remained solidly in third place, trailing by 777 votes with an estimated 600 ballots to count.
Boldt, a former GOP county commissioner who ran with no party preference, received 16,786 votes, or 26.75 percent.
“It’s a nice relief to have this over and rest a little bit,” Boldt said. “It was such a close race between the three of us. It’s good to have it done.”
Dalesandro, a Democrat and Battle Ground City Council member, came in a close second, receiving 16,702 votes, or 26.62 percent.
“The votes have been counted and I’m honored to be moving through to the general election in November,” Dalesandro wrote in a statement. “The support of this community has been tremendous and I’m deeply appreciative of their vote of support and confidence.”
Madore remained in third place with 15,925 votes, or 25.38 percent, despite more than $300,000 being pumped into his campaign by himself and by a political action committee formed by two local millionaires. Madore has not made a statement conceding defeat on his Facebook page or website.
With Madore trailing by 777 votes, the outcome appears certain. The Clark County Elections Office estimates there are only 600 contested and mail-in ballots left to count, and Auditor Greg Kimsey said any more ballots will be “few and far between” after Friday. Ballots had to be postmarked no later than Tuesday to be valid.
The other two county councilors, Republicans Jeanne Stewart and Tom Mielke, finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
The other races in this year’s primary saw little change over initial results released Tuesday night.
Julie Olson, a Republican, and Chuck Green, a Democrat, lead the Clark County District 2 race and will advance to the general election. Olson received 5,551 votes, or 31.11 percent of the 18,220 votes in District 2. Green received 4,684 votes, or 26.25 percent.
In the race for Vancouver City Council Position 5, Ty Stober and Linda Glover will advance to the general election. Stober won the primary with 8,584 votes, or 41.43 percent of the 21,840 votes. Glover received 7,589 votes, or 36.62 percent of the votes. That office is nonpartisan.
For the District 2 seat on Port of Vancouver commission, Lisa Ross and Eric LaBrant will continue into the general election. Ross won the primary with 3,802 votes, or 25.56 percent of the 15,880 votes. LaBrant received 3,261 votes, or 21.92 percent.
In the race to represent District 4 on the Battle Ground Public Schools’ board, incumbent Mavis Nickels and challenger Dick Rylander are moving on to the general election. Nickels received 4,360 of the 10,343 votes, or 47.76 percent, and Rylander received 3,002 votes, or 32.88 percent.
As of Thursday, 63,276 ballots had been received from Clark County’s 250,728 registered voters, for a 25.24 percent turnout.
