Elections office releases Thursday update

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez still holds a lead over Joe Kent in race for Congress; updates provided on close races in Clark County

Not much changed in the race for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District after the latest update of results from the Secretary of State’s office.

Democrat incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Perez leads Republican challenger Joe Kent by a little less than 12,000 votes throughout the congressional district. Perez has 182,367 votes to Kent’s 170,509, in results posted at 5:41 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 7).

There have been some developments in the local Clark County races.

The Clark County Elections Office updated its numbers with about 20,000 more ballots counted on Thursday.

Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said Thursday morning that there were around 62,000 ballots to be counted. With Thursday’s count, that would be down to around 42,000 remaining.

He said that there weren’t as many ballots counted on Wednesday, but that is typical on the day after an election.

“There are always fewer ballots tabulated on the day after the election day than on the day of the election and preceding days,” Kimsey wrote in a text exchange with Clark County Today. “The Inspection Boards start later than normal so that the manual audit can be completed and the inspection board members are tired after working very hard for many days.’’

Voters stood in line for several hours at the Clark County Elections Department in downtown Vancouver throughout election day. Election observers reported that the last person in line wasn’t served until just before midnight.

A number of Southwest Washington races in Tuesday’s general election are expected to take a few more days to determine a clear winner.

Here is a look at the updated results:

17th Legislative District

Marla Keethler still has the lead over Paul Harris in the race for state senator, but it is getting closer. Keethler (28,789 votes, 50.33 percent) is leading Harris (28,416, 49.67 percent) by 373 votes. Harris has served in the state House of Representatives since 2010. Keethler is the mayor of White Salmon, a position she has held since 2020.

In the race for state representative (Position 2), Democrat Terri Niles (29,145, 51.35 percent) leads current Washougal mayor and city councilor David Stuebe (27,612, 48.65 percent) by 1,533 votes. Niles worked 20 years as an intensive care nurse and five years in nursing administration.

18th Legislative District

Democrat Adrian Cortes still leads in the race for state senator, but Republican Brad Benton is getting closer. Earlier in this race, Cortes led by 1,136 votes. The advantage is now 354 votes.

Cortes (37,622, 50.24 percent) is a member of the Battle Ground City Council and the city’s former mayor. Benton (37,268, 49.76 percent), the son of former State Senator Don Benton, campaigned on his support for law enforcement and his opposition to tolls and light rail in the proposed I-5 Bridge replacement project.

Republican John Ley has widened his advantage in the race for state representative Position 2.

Ley, a retired airline pilot, had a lead of 222 votes but now that lead has ballooned to close to 1,300 votes.

Ley (37,965, 50.87 percent) is a former state committeeman for the Clark County Republican Party and a former reporter for Clark County Today. Democrat John Zingale (36,666, 49.13 percent) has been a middle school history teacher for 10 years.

Clark County

Two seats on the County Council were open after Councilors Karen Dill Bowerman (District 3) and Gary Medvigy (District 4) did not seek reelection.

In the District 3 race, Will Fuentes (17,432, 52.21 percent) leads Chuck Keplar (13,471, 47.39 percent.) Fuentes has 15 years of professional experience in banking operations. Kepler failed in his attempt to earn a position on the Evergreen School Board in 2023, He is an owner/operator of a construction company and a pastor of an area church.

In District 4, Joe Zimmerman has a bigger lead, but the race remains tight. Zimmerman (19,872, 50.62 percent) leads Matt Little (19,388, 49.38 percent) by 484 votes. Zimmerman is a fifth-generation Clark County farmer and the finance manager at Bi-Zi Farms. Little is the co-chair of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Conservation Partnership.

There were also three proposed charter amendments in Clark County. One, Amendment 18, remains close.

If Amendment 18 is approved, a petitioner must obtain a statement from the county of estimated increased expenditures, and if so, that statement and prosecuting attorney’s opinion must be on the petition and ballot. Signatures required for petitions only affecting unincorporated areas would be calculated using the same method as petitions for the entire county.

As of Thursday’s results, it is a virtual tie, with 19 votes separating the Reject and Approve votes, with rejections at 102,472 and approvals at 102,453.