News - Local News

POSTED: Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Kershner takes lead over McShane in Whatcom County Council race

Mann locks up victory over Teigrob

A big shift in the latest ballot count has put small-business owner Kathy Kershner ahead of former County Councilman Dan McShane for the council's District 1 seat.

Meanwhile, Whatcom County Planning Commissioner Ken Mann will become a new member of the County Council after recent vote counts show it would be next to impossible for opponent Mary Beth Teigrob to surpass his lead of 52.2 percent to 47.8 percent.

In the District 1 race, Kershner now leads 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent. The next vote tally by the Whatcom County Auditor's Office on Monday, Nov. 9, likely will be a critical mass for one candidate.

Kershner leads McShane by 223 votes. It was a switch of 733 votes in her favor during the Friday, Nov. 6, count from Thursday's figures, an indication that the Whatcom County Auditor's Office has started getting to a large number of the more conservative ballots that often come from the Lynden area.

Elections Supervisor Pete Griffin has said that Lynden voters are known for bringing ballots to the Election Day drop box in the city, rather than mailing ballots, and that chunk of votes doesn't get counted as quickly as ballots that arrive and are processed prior to Election Day.

Both Kershner and McShane were cautious in their assessments of the figures, with Kershner saying she was excited and that it was a "wait and see" for her.

McShane echoed that sentiment. He said he didn't think it "means anything" that Kershner received the majority of votes in the latest count.

Meanwhile, the race between District 3 Councilman Carl Weimer and Lummi Island small-business owner Michelle Luke also tightened. Weimer is still in the lead, with 50.9 percent to 49.1 percent. He lost nearly a full percentage point in his lead, and the race is now separated by 979 votes, but the math indicates that it would be difficult for Luke to overtake the councilman's lead.

Neither could be reached for comment Friday evening.

At-Large candidate Bill Knutzen maintained a healthy lead over Councilwoman Laurie Caskey-Schreiber. The councilwoman has already conceded to Knutzen.

The Auditor's Office has now counted 57,275 ballots out of 61,539 received. Because some ballots are invalidated for various reasons, not all of the remaining ones will be counted.