Top results from Tuesday’s primary election had barely changed by Wednesday night, though voter turnout figures increased considerably.
Voter turnout was just more than 37 percent, an increase of about 6 percentage points from the night before, according to the latest results. The Clark County Elections Office received 8,568 more mail-in ballots Wednesday.
In the 3rd Congressional District race, the lead for incumbent Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, widened slightly from 54.61 percent of the vote, districtwide, to 55.07 percent, as of 6 p.m. Wednesday. She is set for a rematch with Democrat Carolyn Long, a faculty member at Washington State University Vancouver who has collected 40.85 percent so far.
In Clark County, Herrera Beutler also enlarged her lead a bit with 49.9 percent to Long’s 46.62 percent. Long won the county by a slight margin during her unsuccessful challenge for the seat in 2018.
Karen Bowerman, a Republican, also widened her lead a bit in the Clark County Council District 3 race with 43.91 percent. Jesse James, a Democrat, remains on track to advance to the general election with 33.6 percent over incumbent John Blom, 22.49 percent.
In Washington’s 18th Legislative District, incumbent Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, increased her lead in the share of votes by about a percentage point to 32.24 percent. Fellow Republican John Ley, a longtime transportation critic, slightly increased his share to 28.26 percent but appears likely to lose his election bid.
Rivers will likely face Democrat Rick Bell, whose vote total dropped by a couple of percentage points to 39.5 percent.
For Position 1 in the state 49th Legislative District, incumbent Democrat Sharon Wylie and Republican challenger Justin Forsman remain on pace to advance to the general election.
In Position 2, incumbent Democrat Monica Stonier held a similar lead of more than 61 percent, and she will face Republican Park Llafet in the general election.
A $40.5 million Ridgefield School District bond was still on pace to fail, though its approval rose slightly to only 48.81 percent. School bonds in Washington must pass with 60 percent plus one vote.
Woodland and fire district voters also approved the annexation of the city into Clark County Fire & Rescue’s district.
County elections staff had tabulated 112,549 votes Wednesday with about 37,000 ballots left to count.
