Initial returns for Washington’s primary election Tuesday night narrowed races for city, county, and local school board positions in southwest Washington.
Initial results show Vancouver City Council candidate Jeanne Stewart will likely advance to the general election. Stewart will likely face Camas city planner Sarah Fox.
Molly Solomon / OPB
Sarah Fox and Jeanne Stewart are leading a field of seven candidates for Vancouver City Council Position 6, a seat left open after councilor Bill Turlay decided not to seek reelection. Fox, who works as a city planner in Camas, is slightly ahead of Stewart with a lead of just two votes.
Stewart was most recently a Republican on the Clark County Council. She lost her seat in November to Democrat Temple Lentz. Before that, she served on Vancouver City Council for 12 years.
"I've been around a long time, and I have never seen a seven-person council race before, ever, in the history of Vancouver," Stewart said Tuesday night.
Stewart praised Fox, her likely opponent in November, and looked ahead to her continued council bid.
"A lot of work has gone in already and there's a lot more to do," she added.
In Washington's top-two primary system, the two candidates with the most votes, regardless of party, advance to the general election in November.
In Battle Ground, two political newcomers for city council likely secured spots on the November ballot. Shauna Walters and Josh VanGelder have both been vocal opponents of Initiative 1639, a statewide gun control initiative that passed last year.
In the race for Position 7, VanGelder will face off against two-term city councilor and former mayor Philip Johnson, who leads with 46.15% compared to VanGelder’s 33.81% as of Tuesday night. Walters captured 48.88% of the vote in the race for Position 3. She’s trailed by Neil Butler with 33.88%.
In other southwest Washington races, Republican Clark County Councilor Gary Medvigy had a good showing with 58.18% of the vote in a special election for his seat. Medvigy, a retired California superior court judge and former prosecutor, was appointed to the District 4 seat in January.
Vancouver City Council incumbent Erik Paulsen, center, reviews initial primary returns with councilors Bill Turlay and Bart Hansen.
Molly Solomon / OPB
“I’m very pleased with the initial numbers,” Medvigy said Tuesday night, calling the primary results a “good report card” on the councilor’s performance.
His Democratic challenger Adrian Cortes received 41.82% of the vote. Cortes is a special education teacher and a Battle Ground City Council member who grew up in north Clark County.
“It’s actually really humbling that a young Hispanic kid could grow up and actually run for one of the highest offices in the county and do pretty well,” said Cortes.
“There is some ground to make up. We'll take a look at it and see what we can do to close that gap,” Cortes added.
Initial school board results from around midnight Tuesday show educators had a strong showing in several southwest Washington school district races.
This year a record 12 candidates vied for three seats on the Vancouver Public Schools board.
Classroom teachers Lisa Messer and Kathy Decker are leading the race for Position 4. Messer, a Heritage High science teacher, had 29.12% of the vote compared with Decker, a kindergarten teacher, trailing with 28.26%.
School psychologist Tracie Barrows led the race for Position 5 with nearly 44.69% of the vote.
Last year’s teacher strikes and the district’s $8 million budget deficit for next year prompted community activists and classroom educators to jump into politics.
“We really need the voice of somebody that understands education on the school board and somebody that really understands the comprehensive needs of students,” Barrows said Tuesday night.
Incumbent Vancouver schools board member Dale Rice will face Kyle Sproul in November's general election to defend his seat of 29 years. Sproul has a business and marketing background and is a mother to three children in the district.
With tonight’s initial primary results, it’s likely that half the candidates for Vancouver’s school board elections in November will involve educators who work directly with students.
“It shows there's high regard for the educators in our community,” said Vancouver Education Association President Kari Van Nostran. “And who better to represent community members then the educators themselves?”
