Marc Boldt, incumbent in race for Clark County Council chair (The Columbian files)Photo Gallery
It appears incumbent Council Chair Marc Boldt will not continue on to the November election, as he continued to slip behind his competitors in ballot returns Thursday.
Boldt, who ran as an independent, had 22.24 percent of the 88,564 votes cast for the countywide position when latest returns were released in the afternoon.
Republican Eileen Quiring, who currently represents District 4 for the Clark County Council, led with 38.16 percent of the votes. Eric Holt, a Democrat, was in second place with 24.19 percent of the votes. Christy Stanley, a Democrat who suspended her campaign, took 15.31 percent of the votes.
“I mean, I’m disappointed, but I knew it was coming the last couple days,” Boldt said following the release.
The story was similar in District 1, where former Rep. Jim Moeller, a Democrat, continued to trail competitors Temple Lentz, a Democrat, and Jeanne Stewart, the Republican incumbent. With only 7,500 votes left to count, according to the Clark County Auditor’s Office, the chances for either men to move on to the General Election appear dim.
Boldt said he’s unlikely to offer an endorsement in the coming election, but he reiterated complaints he made in July that Quiring ran a “pretty ugly” campaign. Boldt told The Columbian last month that an attack mailer issued by Quiring’s campaign lacked context and included an “outright lie” about his record as chair.
“I don’t mind losing, but I do mind losing in a real ugly race,” he said. “As far as Eric Holt, he ran a good race.”
Boldt had broad liberal and conservative support in Clark County when he first ran for the position in 2015. During that year’s primary, he edged out Republican County Councilor David Madore for the position, going on to face Democrat Mike Dalesandro in the general election.
His and Republican Councilor Julie Olson’s election resulted in a significant political shift on the Clark County Council, with the pair and Stewart systematically overturning many of the controversial policies championed by Madore and Republican Councilor Tom Mielke over the previous four years.
Olson is also up for reelection this year, and was leading her own District 2 race with a sizeable lead — 77.44 percent to competing Republican Elisabeth Veneman’s 18.9 percent.
In District 1, centered over the Democrat-leaning city of Vancouver, Stewart faces what appears to be a more difficult battle. She took 32.99 percent of the 19,782 votes. Lentz, meanwhile, took the top spot in that race with 33.73 percent of the vote. Lentz is a well-known Vancouver personality and former member of the Board of Freeholders that wrote the county charter in 2013.
Another batch of votes will be released this afternoon. The election will be certified Aug. 21.
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