Democrat Pat McCarthy still leads Republican Shawn Bunney in the race for Pierce County executive in results released late Friday.

But McCarthy’s lead calculated under the ranked-choice voting system – 51 percent to 49 percent – continues to shrink, and the race remains too close to call.

In another key race, Dale Washam still leads six candidates for assessor-treasurer. The latest results show him beating runner-up Barbara Gelman.

Other county races appear all but decided.

In the latest results, Bunney continues to lead all candidates for county executive, gaining 35 percent of first-choice votes. McCarthy has 26 percent, followed by Democrat Calvin Goings (23 percent) and independent Mike Lonergan (15 percent).

But under the county’s ranked-choice voting system, Bunney would need a majority of first-choice votes to win the election outright, and he’s far short of that.

Under the new system, if no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. If your first choice is eliminated, your second choice gets your vote. If your second choice is eliminated, your third choice gets your vote.

The process of eliminating candidates and redistributing votes continues until someone has a majority of votes.

The county Auditor’s Office uses computer software to eliminate candidates and redistribute votes. In Friday’s calculation, Lonergan and Goings were eliminated, and McCarthy beat Bunney by a margin of 51 percent to 49 percent.

But McCarthy’s margin continues to shrink. In a similar tally on election night, she won 55 percent to 45 percent. In a tally Nov. 7 she won 52 percent to 48 percent.

The latest tally isn’t official, and no candidate will be eliminated until every vote is counted. Election workers still must process about 17,500 ballots.

The Auditor’s Office won’t run the ranked-choice voting calculation again until Nov. 21. By then, a winner might become apparent.

Meanwhile, the latest results for assessor-treasurer show the contest coming down to Washam vs. Gelman, with Washam ahead 52 percent to 48 percent.

However, this race remains too close to call. Though Washam has about 25 percent of first-choice votes, three candidates – Gelman, Terry Lee and Jan Shabro – have about 19 percent of votes each. The three are within 132 votes of each other.

In other county races:

 • Republican Joyce McDonald appears on her way to winning the County Council District 2 seat over Democrats Al Rose and Carolyn Merrival. The latest figures show McDonald has about 50 percent of first-choice votes. If she gets a majority, she’d win the race without consideration of voters’ second and third choices.

 • Incumbent Republican Councilman Roger Bush seems likely to win re-election against Democrat Bruce Lachney in District 3. Bush leads 52 percent to 48 percent.

 • Incumbent Councilmen Tim Farrell, D-Tacoma, and Dick Muri, R-Steilacoom, are cruising to easy re-election, as is Sheriff Paul Pastor.

David Wickert: 253-274-7341

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