Thurston County election turnout reaches 38.2% by local certification
About 38.2% of Thurston County voters cast ballots in the 2021 general election, according to final results from the Auditor’s Office.
The county’s three-member canvassing board certified the Nov. 2 election results on Tuesday. Following local certification, the state’s new Secretary of State will certify all results by Dec. 2.
In all, about 74,731 of the county’s 195,618 registered voters participated in the election. Turnout fell in line with Auditor Mary Hall’s expectations, which were in the 30-40% range, she previously told The Olympian.
The final results did not diverge much from the initial returns reported the night of the election.
In Olympia City Council races, Clark Gilman, Lisa Parshley and Dontae Payne cruised to victory after establishing strong leads on election day.
Yến Huỳnh, who was appointed in January to finish state Rep. Jessica Bateman’s vacated term, held on to her lead over attorney Robbi Kesler. She finished with 57.3% of the vote compared to Kesler’s 42.2%.
Meanwhile, incumbent Jim Cooper defeated challenger Spence Weigand with 54.4% of the vote.
The Lacey City Council races saw no big upsets. Incumbent Carolyn Cox defeated Felix Peguero-Reyes with 54.5% of the vote. Robin Vazquez received 61.5% of the vote over Emma McSharry for the seat being vacated by deputy mayor Cynthia Pratt.
Tumwater’s mayoral race ended with Debbie Sullivan defeating Pamela J. Hanson with a 81.5% of the vote. In the only contested city council race, Peter Agabi beat out Alex Rossiter with 68.7% of the vote.
In the Port of Olympia commissioner races, Bob Iyall finished with 51.8% of the vote over Jessie Simmons’ 47.6% to secure the District No. 2 seat.
Real estate broker Amy Evans will take the District No. 3 seat after winning 55.3% of the vote. She received 7,706 more votes than solar developer Joel Hansen.
The closest race in Thurston County came down to a couple of votes. In a Bucoda Town Council race, Kevin Jones won his seat with 38 votes compared to Kaitlyn Nagy Koeller’s 37 votes.
Results for other Nov. 2 general election races and issues in Thurston County — including city council races, school board races and ballot propositions — can be found on The Olympian website.
