Port of Olympia District 2 race has new leader — again — after Wednesday’s tally
The roller coaster of results rolls on for Port of Olympia District 2 commissioner incumbent Bob Iyall and his challenger Jerry Toompas.
So far the race has looked like this: Iyall was the election-night leader, then Toompas jumped in front of him, followed by Iyall, who regained and retained his lead after ballot counts on Friday and Monday.
Although Iyall was still leading, the gap had narrowed to 32 votes.
There was no ballot count on Tuesday, but after Wednesday’s count, Toompas had once again taken the lead by 130 votes, the elections data show.
“It sure tells you that every single vote counts,” Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall said Wednesday.
And it’s not over. Just 390 ballots are left to be counted Thursday afternoon.
Toompas is leading Iyall with 38,929 votes to Iyall’s 38,799 votes.
The difference of 130 votes would trigger a hand recount. Under election rules, a hand recount is required when two candidates are separated by fewer than 150 votes, and separated by less than one-quarter of 1%, or .0025%.
The two candidates currently are separated by 130 votes and .0017%, Hall said Wednesday.
Iyall, the former chief executive of Medicine Creek Enterprise Corp., a Nisqually tribe-owned holding company, seeks a second term on the commission. Toompas, a special education teacher, seeks his first.
Toompas expressed confidence after the latest count.
“Although a recount is guaranteed, I’m confident I’ve won this race by the narrowest margin,” he said. “None of this would have been possible without the dozens of volunteers and the hundreds of community members who fueled this grassroots effort from day one.”
Iyall weighed in on the state of the race, too.
“I’ll just say it’s close and we’ll keep our hopes up until the county auditor says it’s final,” he said.
The general election is set to be certified Nov. 25.
Wednesday’s vote tallies
District 2
- Jerry Toompas: 38,929 votes, or 49.86%.
- Bob Iyall: 38,799 votes, or 49.69%.
This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
