The first results of the 2023 elections are in, with votes for more than a dozen seats up in north Clark County showing the first look at winners and losers in the contests.
Shortly after the 8 p.m. deadline Tuesday, county elections offices released their first counts. Clark County has counted nearly 54,000 ballots as of Nov. 7, for a countywide turnout of about 16.2%. The county elections office expects about 20,000 more ballots to count, with the next count planned for Thursday afternoon.
City Councils
Battle Ground’s three City Council races currently show two new faces likely to be sworn in for 2024. For City Council Position 2, as of first count, incumbent Shane Bowman led with about 61% of the vote, to challenger Josh VanGelder’s 38.6%. Position 3 challenger Victoria Ferrer has a lead of about 58.9% against incumbent Daniel Dingman’s roughly 40.9%. The Position 7 seat currently has Eric Joe Overholser in the lead with 54.9% of the vote to fellow challenger Josie Calderon’s roughly 44.9%.
For La Center City Council, Position 4 incumbent Myrna Leija led with about 68.5% of the vote to challenger Crystal Harvey’s roughly 31.4% in the first count. For Position 5, incumbent Elizabeth Cerveny has 63.3% of votes against Linda Tracy’s 36.2%.
Ridgefield City Council’s one competitive race is one of the closest. Incumbent Lee Wells leads by 13 votes with about 50.1% of the vote, against challenger Mark Tyler’s roughly 49.4%.
Woodland is likely to see a new mayor if the first count of ballots shows a similar lead to the final numbers. As of Nov. 7, challenger Todd Dinehart has about 67.7% of the votes to incumbent Will Finn’s roughly 32.4%.
Woodland City Council’s three competitive races are much closer as of the first count. Position 3 incumbent Melissa Doughty has about 51.1% of the vote, leading by 23 votes to challenger Keith Bellisle’s roughly 48.6%. For the Position 4 race, challenger Douglas Freimarck leads with about 53.5% against incumbent Aaron Alderman’s roughly 46.2%. The closest race in the city as of the first count is position 5, as incumbent DeeAnna Holland leads by 13 votes, or about 50.7%, against challenger Gabe Huston’s roughly 49.3%.
School Boards
Battle Ground Public Schools’ one competitive race has challenger Debbie Johnson leading with about 52% of the vote against incumbent Andrew Lawhon’s 47.4%, as of the first count of ballots. La Center School District’s one competitive race has its incumbent ahead, as Amanda Miller leads with about 77.3% against Shannon Cluphf’s 22.4%.
In the Ridgefield School District, Amber Baker leads with about 68.2% of the vote against fellow challenger Rob Peterson’s roughly 31.5% in the first count of ballots for the district’s sole competitive race. For Woodland Public Schools, Sarah Stuart will likely maintain her seat as she has about 63.8% of the vote to challenger Katie Nichols’ roughly 35.9%.
Fire Commissioners
For the two fire district board of commissioners seats with a competitive election, the first results in both cases look decisive. For Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue, incumbent Jade Bourke leads with about 57% of the vote to challenger Bridig Taylor’s 42.7%. In Clark County Fire District 13, Matt Sciaretta has about 71.6% of the vote to fellow challenger Tom McGraw’s roughly 28.4%.
