First election results: Herrera Beutler, Long lead congressional race

Four-term Republican Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler outpolled six challengers in first election results released Tuesday night. Herrera Beutler led by more than 4,300 votes districtwide, but was running second in Clark County to Democrat Carolyn Long, a political science professor making her first run for public office. None of the five other challengers were close to Herrera Beutler or Long.

First results also show incumbent Clark County Council Chair Marc Boldt, no party preference, may be in danger of losing his seat. Conservative County Councilor Eileen Quiring had a 10,000 vote lead over second-place Democrat Eric Holt and Boldt. Only 974 votes separated Holt and Boldt. The two top vote-getters will advance to the November general election.

In the other county council race, Democratic challenger Temple Lentz led incumbent Republican Jeanne Stewart and Democrat Jim Moeller, but less than 2 percentage points separated the three candidates.

In a special election for an unexpired term on the Vancouver City Council, appointee Laurie Lebowsky and challenger Sarah Fox led Tuesday’s five-way race. Candidate Maureen McGoldrick, who lost last year’s general election to a deceased candidate, finished fourth this year, behind Mary Elkin.

More than 72,000 votes were tabulated in the initial results, with an estimated 23,000 more ballots to be counted in the days to come. Another batch of results is due late Wednesday afternoon.

Other winners as of Tuesday night:

• 17^th District state representative: Incumbent Republican Vicki Kraft and Democrat Tanisha Harris easily bested James Tolson, who suspended his campaign.

• Clark County Assessor: Incumbent Peter Van Nortwick and Ridgefield City councilor Darren Wertz, both Republicans, will advance to November.

• Clark Public Utilities commissioner: Incumbent Jim Malinowski led Sherry Erickson, with Judy Chipman running third.