The election results are certified. The swearing-in is scheduled for later this month. A new era in Clark County politics is on the horizon.
County council Chair-Elect Marc Boldt, no party preference, defeated opponents Mike Dalesandro, a Democrat, and Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, whose write-in campaign was a late addition to campaign season.
But precinct and district level data offer a more detailed look at where the candidates won big in the general election.
Pike didn’t split the vote
At a meeting of the Clark County Republican Party after the August primary, precinct committee officers argued the merits of supporting the write-in campaign for Pike. Many argued the write-in campaign would split conservative voters and hand the win to Democrat Dalesandro.
That prediction did not hold true. Dalesandro did pick up 13 precincts that went to Boldt in the August primary. He also picked up 12 of the precincts that went to Republican Councilor David Madore, who was eliminated after the primary. But the same held true for Boldt, who picked up 16 precincts that went to Dalesandro, as well as 58 precincts that favored Madore.
Those precincts Boldt and Dalesandro swapped were centered in the southern part of the county. Take Precinct 805, east of Camas, for example. Boldt won it with 28.3 percent in the August primary, Madore was second with 26.3 percent$ and Dalesandro third with 24.7 percent. Dalesandro won the precinct in the general election, with 36.2 percent of the vote, compared with 34.4 percent for Boldt and 27.7 percent for Pike.
Meanwhile, Precinct 240 in central Vancouver went to Boldt in the general election. He won 42 percent of the votes, Dalesandro got 37.1 and Pike had 20.3. That precinct offered a comfortable win for Dalesandro in the primary, with the Democrat taking 28 percent of the vote and Boldt and Madore trailing with 19.9 and 19.1 percent, respectively.
The ‘Boldt Belt’ grew
Both conservative and liberal candidates can count on wins in some parts of the county’s geography. The southwest corner is liberal; the northeast conservative.
So, unsurprisingly, Pike stomped the competition in Precinct 603 northeast of Yacolt, garnering 60.5 percent of the votes. Boldt was a distant second with 24.7 percent and Dalesandro took only 14 percent.
It should also come as no shock that Dalesandro handily won precincts in the lower left corner. In Precinct 120, which covers downtown Vancouver, Dalesandro captured 51.3 percent. Boldt trailed with 38.5 percent and Pike came in dead last with 9.6 percent.
But through the middle of the county, encompassing much of Clark County’s suburban areas and small cities, runs a swath of moderate to conservative-leaning voters who supported the nonpartisan Boldt. The Boldt Belt, a clear trend in the primary, grew a few notches in the general election. Boldt, a former GOP county commissioner criticized by current party leadership for his moderate policies, doubled the number of precincts he took from 64 to 128. Most of those precincts lie in the middle and southeastern parts of Clark County.
Democrats a tough sell
There are a few things you can count on in Clark County council districts. District 4, Republican Councilor Tom Mielke’s northeast Clark County district, will vote red. District 1, Councilor Jeanne Stewart’s downtown Vancouver district, will vote blue. (Stewart, a Republican, was elected countywide before a new charter was implemented.)
But perhaps you can also count on Clark County, as a whole, to go red.
Boldt, a conservative who ran with no party preference, and Pike, a Republican, took a combined 146 precincts, well ahead of Dalesandro’s 95. The Democrat took only one precinct in north Clark County, south of La Center. Dalesandro may have only lost by 2,290 votes, taking 36.31 percent to Boldt’s 39.08 percent, but it still appears to be an uphill climb for a Democrat to win countywide.
But Dalesandro said he doesn’t think November’s election results can be considered in future countywide races.
“The voters in the Clark County look for straight-forward, independent-minded leadership,” he said.
Deanna Pauli-Hammond, chair of the Clark County Democratic Party, did not return a request for comment.
