With 7,500 ballots yet to count, these are Whatcom County election results Thursday
Voters in the 42nd Legislative District might not know until next week who will represent them in Olympia, as races for the state House and Senate remained close after the third round of totals was released about 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, with thousands of ballots left to count and government offices closed for the three-day Veterans Day weekend.
The fate of an initiative to fund childcare programs and other early-learning services also remained uncertain as the margin for Proposition 5 narrowed further on Thursday, after early returns suggested it would fail.
Meanwhile, Whatcom County Democrats held out hope of completing a historic shift in the traditionally conservative 42nd Legislative District House and Senate, retaining their leads Thursday.
In the 42nd District’s Senate race, state Rep. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham, was leading state Sen. Simon Sefzik, R-Ferndale, by 51% to 49% for the seat with a four-year term.
Shewmake led by 947 votes out of a total of 69,374 ballots cast in that race, but Sefzik gained ground Thursday.
Shewmake left a House seat that she has held for four years to run for the Senate against Sefzik, who was appointed in January to finish the term of the late Sen. Doug Ericksen after he died in December 2021.
Ericksen, a Ferndale Republican, won his third Senate term in 2018, defeating Bellingham Democrat Pinky Vargas by 46 votes out of 72,636 ballots cast.
Ballot margins continued to favor Democrats in the 42nd District’s two House races, where the races have been close for four years:
▪ Rep. Alicia Rule, D-Blaine, was leading Republican challenger Tawsha Dykstra Thompson of Lynden by 52% to 48% for the House Position 1 seat, a two-year term.
▪ Bellingham Democrat Joe Timmons was leading Republican Dan Johnson of Laurel by 51% to 49% for the House Position 2 seat, a two-year term.
Races in the 42nd District, which includes much of downtown Bellingham, the city’s northern neighborhoods, and the rest of northern and eastern Whatcom County, were closely watched locally both locally and statewide in the midterm election.
Both House seats and the Senate seat were on the ballot in the 42nd District, and contributions for all six candidates drew nearly $2.5 million total, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
In addition, political action committees — mostly affiliated with the Republican and Democratic parties — made nearly $3.5 million in independent donations for and against those six candidates.
They proved to be the closest races and were difficult to call with more than 20,000 ballots that still had to be verified, processed and tabulated Thursday, Nov. 10, two days after the election deadline of 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Republicans were seeking to reclaim the House seats and keep the Senate in a traditionally red district that has trended more blue in recent election cycles.
Ballots were taking longer to count in the general election because of a crush of last-minute voters and the lingering effects of last week’s windstorm, which knocked out power and damaged fiber-optic lines that are crucial to the ballot-verification process, Whatcom County Auditor Diana Bradrick said Wednesday, Nov. 9.
Results released Thursday included ballots that weren’t processed and tabulated earlier.
Ballots that arrive by mail Friday, Nov. 11, and later will be counted if they were postmarked by 8 p.m, Tuesday. Nov. 8.
Another release of ballot totals was scheduled for about 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, and the Auditor’s Office website said that there were an estimated 7,500 ballots yet to count.
Child care tax
Prop. 5, a countywide property tax measure to fund child care, preschool and other programs and services for children and families, was failing by 49.4% to 50.6%, a far closer margin than on Election Night.
It required a simple majority of 50% plus one vote for approval.
Voter turnout
Some 102,187 ballots had been counted through 5 p.m. Thursday in Whatcom County for a turnout rate of 72%, according to the Washington Secretary of State’s Office and the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office websites.
Statewide turnout was 62%.
Whatcom County had 157,580 active registered voters, according to the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office.
On the ballot in Whatcom County were races for U.S. Congress and the state Legislature, secretary of state, state Supreme Court, and statewide advisory measures, two local tax initiatives, District Court judges and other local positions and measures.
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 5:37 PM.
