Carolina Mejia, C Davis leading in Thurston County Commissioner race

Democratic candidate Carolina Mejia and Republican candidate C Davis were leading Tuesday night’s primary election tally for Thurston County District 1 Commissioner, pushing former commissioner Bud Blake and incumbent John Hutchings in third and fourth place, respectively.

Early election results showed Mejia with 31 percent of the votes counted so far.

“We are very happy,” Mejia told The Olympian. “This was a team effort ... We’ll just keep waiting for more to come in and until everything gets verified.”

Davis was with his team when The Olympian informed him he was running in second after the initial tally.

“All the team’s here going crazy,” he said. He told The Olympian he wanted to thank his campaign manager and the rest of his team for all the hard work they put in.

Former District 2 Commissioner Blake had 17 percent of votes counted Tuesday night, and incumbent District 1 Commissioner Hutchings had 14.4 percent.

Hutchings said he was “obviously disappointed, but I’m humbled that I’ve been able to serve the community as commissioner for the past four years — well, 3.5 years, I’ve still got five months left.”

Blake remained optimistic, saying that over the next few days he might receive a “post-deadline surge,” explaining “that’s where I usually do good.”

In spite of his current standings, Blake was excited to see democracy in action. “It’s not about the individual. It’s about how (the voters) see a vision and values in their community,” he said.

In the primary, Thurston County residents who live in District 1 — which stretches from Boston Harbor, to downtown Olympia, to Tenino and rural Rainier — vote on the candidates. In the November general election, voters from all over Thurston County will choose between the two candidates who advance from this primary.

There was a District 2 race on the ballot Tuesday too, but the results only determine which of the two candidates will be listed first on the November ballot. Tuesday night, District 2 Commissioner incumbent Gary Edwards was leading with 54.8 percent of the vote, and Lacey City Council member Michael Steadman had 44.6 percent.

This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 10:14 PM.