Wolfe, Romero lead in Thurston commission race

County Commissioners Cathy Wolfe and Sandra Romero are looking forward to serving another term after Tuesday night’s preliminary results put them more than 10 percent ahead of their opponents.

Wolfe will likely serve a fourth consecutive term after voting results show a nearly 15 percent gap between her and fellow Democratic challenger Karen Rogers, who is currently a Olympia city council member.

Wolfe managed to get 56.9 percent of the votes Tuesday night compared to Rogers’ 41.9 percent.

Rogers is hoping that gap will shrink as more votes are counted throughout the week.

“There was a lot of activity at the end this last weekend,” Rogers said. “It will be interesting to see what happens with the south county and how many ballots do come in, so we will see.”

Wolfe was at home sick with the flu on election night as results came in and was unable to speak with The Olympian.

Wolfe’s campaign manager and granddaughter, Catherine Wolfe, said she was aware of her lead in the race.

“We are all really excited,” Catherine Wolfe said, speaking on her grandmother’s behalf. “I think it is definitely the right choice; obviously I am a little biased, but I know her to be one of the most amazing, kind, generous people I know and she will do a very good job, as she has done in the past.”

The candidates, both Democrats, had opposing views on how the county handled its controversial, state required Critical Area’s Ordinance, and the construction of the new county jail dubbed the Accountability and Restitution Center.

Both are projects Wolfe has said she looks forward to continuing during her new term.

She also is looking forward to working on the Regional Health Improvement Collaborative, preparing counties for 2014 health care changes, and focus on ideas to make Thurston County stable through continuously difficult economic times.

POSITION 2

Fellow county commissioner Romero is also looking to serve another term after having nearly a 13 percent lead over Republican challenger Andrew Barkis.

Romero was celebrating Tuesday night at an election party held at the Red Lion Hotel in Olympia next to the Thurston County Courthouse.

Romero said she’s learned never to expect to win.

“I never expect anything, but I was pleasantly surprised by the results,” Romero said, who had garnered 56.4 percent of the votes Tuesday night. Barkis received 43.42 percent of the votes.  

Romero said she looks forward to continuing to work on the county’s budget and getting the county’s new jail operational.

The old jail located on the courthouse campus is set to move to the new facility at the start of 2013, as well as several other county services.

“Those are our two priorities right now,” Romero said.

Romero has also said she would focus her next term on job creation, public safety and delivering basic services to those in need throughout the county.

Barkis was admittedly disappointed by the turnout of the votes Tuesday night, but said it was a good run for a first time election.

“For our first time out of the gate we are pretty happy,” Barkis said. “I know no matter what, we ran a great campaign and we just stayed on the high road.”

Barkis said he was proud his campaign managed to stay positive throughout the election, including during the last few weeks when spliced videos involving JZ Knight and the Ramtha School of Enlightenment surfaced.

The footage showed videos of Knight claiming to channel Ramtha with footage from a candidate forum involving Romero, who received campaign funding from Knight and the school. Romero in turn donated the combined $3,600 to charity.

“Positive campaigning pays off,” Romero said. “Hard work and positive campaigning.

Barkis, owner Hometown Property Management with strong ties to the county, Barkis said this will not be his last run at an elected position in the county.

“This is the beginning ... to a call to service,” Barkis said. “We have learned a lot of things as a first campaign; we have made some mistakes and made some great calls and raised a lot of money and made great connections.”

Chelsea Krotzer: 360-754-5476
ckrotzer@theolympian.com
theolympian.com/thisjustin
@chelseakrotzer