Primary election results: Here’s who leads in Tacoma port commission races
.JPG "Mount Rainier looms over the Port of Tacoma, as seen from Commencement Bay, Sept. 26, 2018")
The Port of Tacoma Commission had two positions up for voters’ consideration in the August primary, and the two incumbents were ahead in Tuesday’s first count of votes.
The top two vote-getters in each race will advance to the Nov. 2 general election.
Dick Marzano, who was first elected in 1995 to Position 2, faces two challengers, Jeannette Twitty and Elizabeth Pew.
In Tuesday’s results, Marzano was ahead with 43,129 votes, or 63.82 percent of the vote.
Pew was next with 12,875 votes, or 19.05 percent of the vote, ahead of Twitty with 11,272 votes at 16.68 percent of the vote.
For Position 4, incumbent Commissioner Don Meyer, serving on the commission since 2010, faced nearly 10 challengers, though two dropped out before the primary while remaining on the ballot, c bey el and Scott Lewis.
Meyer and challenger Mary Bacon were in the top two positions. Meyer had 26,127 votes, or 38.93 percent of the vote, and Bacon had 16,102 votes, or 23.99% of the vote.
The other candidates’ preliminary results were as follows:
▪ Mario Rivera 2,702 4.03%
▪ c bey el 175 0.26%
▪ Brian Duthie 15,139 22.56%
▪ Scott Lewis 2,463 3.67%
▪ Nirav Sheth 2,133 3.18%
▪ Christopher Pierce 1,233 1.84%
▪ Christian (C.J.) Dylina 763 1.14%
Position 1, currently held by Commissioner John McCarthy, saw one challenger file for his seat: Laura Gilbert. The two will be on the November ballot along with the contenders for the other two positions.
The ultimate winners for the three commission positions in November will then join the rest of the five-member panel as it tackles the continuing challenges of growing market share against competing ports, including California and British Columbia, climate change and shifting away from fossil fuels, cargo logistics amid supply chain disruptions and freight terminal development.
The environment and job growth became key campaign issues among the candidates.
The next round of counted ballots is set for Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. with the last release at noon, Aug. 17.
