Where Tacoma mayor, other races stand as counting of primary election ballots concludes
There are no major changes Friday to the Aug. 3 primary election results for the races for Tacoma mayor, city council and Port of Tacoma.
As of Friday, voter turnout had grown to 22.21 percent after initial reports of 12.7 percent on Tuesday. There are about 100 more ballots left to count, but Pierce County Auditor elections manager Mike Rooney said voters still have an opportunity to fix signature discrepancies, and each day more valid ballots might come through the mail.
As of Friday, incumbent Victoria Woodards maintained her lead in the race for Tacoma mayor with 16,696 votes, or 51.84 percent of the votes.
Steve Haverly was second with 10,309 votes, or 32.01 percent of the vote, and Jamika Scott was in third with 5,095 votes, or 15.82 percent of the vote.
Woodards and Haverly will move on to the general election Nov. 2.
Woodards said voters have made it clear they want “experienced, steady leadership during these challenging times.”
“I’m so very grateful for their continued confidence in my abilities to lead us out of this pandemic and build a more, just and equitable city for all,” Woodards said in a statement following the election night results. “I’m looking forward to the General Election and will use this time to listen intently to the voters about their hopes and dreams to craft the priorities for our next four years. Housing affordability, better jobs closer to home, homelessness, the climate crisis and community-centered public safety needs the attention of every single one of us.”
Haverly said via his Facebook page that “change is in the air.” He told The News Tribune on Friday he’s pleased with the results of the primary.
“This has been a grass-roots effort by the community and I feel that their voices at the ballot box are being heard,” Haverly said. “The feedback from all over Tacoma has been extremely positive, regarding my campaign. The daily emails, voicemails and phone conversations have strengthened our efforts to turn things around for this great city.”
Haverly also said he’s proud of garnering 30 percent of the vote without any campaign contributions.
“I purposely refused campaign contributions in an effort to only be beholden to the voters, not special interests,” he said. “I have spent a small fraction ($908.70 to be exact) of what other candidates have spent on their campaigns and the results speak for themselves.”
Haverly was notified by the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) on July 14 that he had not submitted candidate registration forms that are required to be sent to the PDC within two weeks of a candidate’s announcement to run for office. Haverly filed to run for mayor in May.
Haverly has since submitted the necessary documents and appears on the PDC website with a “mini-filing” option, meaning he will not spend or collect more than $5,000 on his campaign. By comparison, Woodards has recorded more than $127,000 for her campaign and has spent about $105,000.
Scott, who came in third place, thanked her supporters on Wednesday and said her campaign was never about a single political office.
“It is and was about creating an equitable future for our city—one that intimately understands the lives of our community members and does everything in its power to make lives better. This campaign was one step in building that shared desire for new leadership,” Scott’s campaign said via social media.
Here’s where the other Tacoma races stood as of Friday afternoon. The top two candidates in each race continue on to the general election on Nov. 2.
Tacoma City Council District 4
- Catherine Ushka (incumbent): 2,808 votes (60.96 percent)
- Israel James McKinney: 1,149 votes (24.95 percent)
- Nolan Hibbard-Pelly: 616 votes (13.37 percent)
Tacoma City Council District 5
- Joe Bushnell: 2,041 votes (47.16 percent)
- Anne Artman: 1,664 votes (38.45 percent)
- Treyvon Dunbar: 584 votes (13.49 percent)
Port of Tacoma Commissioner Pos. 2
- Dick Marzano (incumbent): 73,291 votes (62.11 percent)
- Elizabeth Pew: 23,958 votes (20.30 percent)
- Jeannette Twitty: 20,260 votes (17.17 percent)
Port of Tacoma Commissioner Pos. 4
- Don Meyer (incumbent): 45,099 votes (38.52 percent)
- Mary M. Bacon: 28,369 votes (24.23 percent)
- Brian Duthie: 27,831 votes (23.77 percent)
- Mario Rivera: 4,270 votes (3.65 percent)
- Scott Lewis: 3,885 votes (3.32 percent)
- Nirav Sheth: 3,855 votes (3.29 percent)
- Christopher Pierce: 1,773 votes (1.51 percent)
- Christian (C.J.) Dylina: 1,229 votes (1.05 percent)
- c bey el: 282 votes (.24 percent)
Metro Parks of Tacoma Commissioner Position No. 3
- Rosie Ayala: 11,639 votes (38.52 percent)
- Carolyn Edmonds: 11,331 votes (37.5 percent)
- Blake Stagner: 7,084 votes (23.45 percent)
