Here’s who is leading in Olympia mayor, Tumwater city council primaries
Dontae Payne and David Ross were leading Tuesday night in the race for mayor of Olympia. The two are poised to face off in the November general election to replace Cheryl Selby, who’s retiring. Payne is currently a city council member, and Ross works in post rehabilitation.
Desiree Toliver, 31, an Olympia makeup artist, was in the running for mayor as well. She had 5%, or 415 votes, as of Tuesday night, according to early vote tallies from the Thurston County Auditor. Payne had 63%, or 5,235 votes, and Ross had 31.7%, or 2,636 votes.
Payne, 36, lives in west Olympia and, along with being a council member, is a Senior Policy Advisor for Civil Rights & Racial Justice for the Office of the Governor. He’s an Army veteran and a graduate of The Evergreen State College.
Payne told The Olympian he spent Tuesday night celebrating at Well 80 in downtown Olympia with school board and Tumwater city council candidates. With more than 60% of the vote, he said he thinks the vote shows the current council is on the right track in addressing issues important to the community.
“Housing and homelessness, addressing public safety concerns and our local economy,” Payne said. “I think Tuesday night’s results are a reflection of community members seeing that we’re improving in all these areas.”
Looking ahead, Payne said his plan is to get out in the community and talk to voters about issues they’re concerned about, as well as energize them to go to the polls in November.
“I hope folks really understand the importance of showing up in these off-year elections,” Payne said. “They’re important to the general quality of life we experience in the communities we live in.”
Ross, 53, also lives on the west side, and is an South Puget Sound Community College and Evergreen graduate. He worked in homeless outreach and case management, and he’s a small business owner.
Ross told The Olympian his goal was to make it into the general election with a strong showing, and he wasn’t sure if that was going to happen. He threw his hat in the ring for mayor three years ago and didn’t make it to the November election.
This year, he said he had mostly heard from people outside the city that they’d vote for him, but less assurance from Olympians themselves.
“I wasn’t sure if they were interested in change and who was actually going to vote,” he said.
Ross said his campaign took a loss by not starting up until about a month ago, compared to his opponent, who has been campaigning since the beginning of the year. He said now it’s time for him to expand his message and reach, and, he said, to not be pigeon holed as an extremist or right-winger.
Ross said the city was at about 20% voter turnout as of Tuesday night, but once November rolls around, he said he’s confident more of his supporters will go to the polls.
There are two people on the Olympia City Council up for reelection, and both are uncontested. Position numbers 2 and 3 are currently filled by Yến Huỳnh and Dani Madrone respectively.
Tumwater city council race
In Tumwater, city council member Charlie Schneider’s seat is up for grabs. According to early vote tallies from the Thurston County Auditor, Andrea McGhee was in the lead Tuesday night with 42.8%, or 1,420 votes for position number 7.
Kelly Von Holtz trailed McGhee with 37.6% of the vote, followed by Bernetia M. Johnson. McGhee served as a Tumwater School Board member in 2019 and is a graduate of Northwest University. Von Holtz is a member of Tumwater’s planning commission and previously served on the city’s Parks and Recreation board. Johnson is a Tumwater resident and entrepreneur.
The general election is Nov. 7.
This story was originally published August 1, 2023 at 8:39 PM.
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