After holiday vote count delay, these are Whatcom election results

Whatcom County Democrats swept the state Senate and both House seats in the traditionally conservative 42nd Legislative District, holding their leads after the latest round of ballot totals was released about 4:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14.

Those remaining races had been undecided with some 7,500 ballots left to be verified, processed and tabulated over the three-day Veterans Day weekend when county employees weren’t working.

Only 550 ballots were left to count Tuesday, according to the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office website, too few to make a difference in the remaining undecided races.

Both state Rep. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham, and state Sen. Simon Sefzik, R-Ferndale, told The Bellingham Herald that they believed the race was over.

“I’m excited to get to do good work for the people of Whatcom County,” Shewmake told The Herald.

Shewmake, who served two terms in the House before giving up her seat to run for the Senate, she said she would continue to focus on housing, public safety, homelessness and salmon recovery.

“We’ve got to figure out a way to build more houses,” Shewmake said.

Sefzik told The Herald that he telephoned Shewmake to offer his congratulations after a hard-fought campaign where the two candidates differed on several key issues.

“I don’t apologize for us having those clashes of ideas. (But) now, it is our job to come together,” Sefzik said.

Sefzik said he was humbled to have been able to represent Whatcom County for the past several months, and that he was going to take some time to consider his options — including law school.

“A year ago, I never thought that I would have the honor to do this. I’ve fallen in love with the area even more doing this,” he said.

A crush of last-minute voters and a windstorm that damaged fiber-option lines crucial to ballot reporting caused a delay in tabulating the results of the Nov. 8 election by nearly a week.

Because Washington voters don’t register by party and ballots are cast by mail rather than in person at a precinct location, it was unknown how many of the 7,500 remaining ballots were from the 42nd District.

Monday’s results also left 942 ballots that weren’t counted for reasons such as a missing signature or a signature that didn’t match the one on file.

Those ballots can be validated or “cured” by voters until Nov. 29, when the election is certified.

Monday’s release of ballot totals also continued speculation about the fate of a property tax to fund child care and early learning opportunities for young children.

42nd District

In the 42nd District’s Senate race, Shewmake defeated Sefzik by 50.53% to 49.37% for the seat with a four-year term.

That’s a margin of victory of 863 votes out of 74,371 ballots cast but outside the margin for a required recount, according to previous Bellingham Herald reporting and Whatcom County Auditor Diana Bradrick.

According to the Washington Secretary of State’s Office, a machine recount is required when fewer than 2,000 votes separate the candidates and the winning margin is less than one-half of 1 percent of the votes cast for both candidates.

Sefzik was running for a full term after he was appointed by the Whatcom County Council in January to finish the term of the late Doug Ericksen, who died in December 2021 after a five-week battle with COVID-19.

In the 42nd District’s two House races:

▪ Rep. Alicia Rule, D-Blaine, defeated Republican challenger Tawsha Dykstra Thompson of Lynden by 52% to 48% for the House Position 1 seat, a two-year term.

“I am thrilled to know the community supports my continued service, and grateful for all of the support, and I’m really just excited to get back to work!” Rule told The Herald in a text message.

Thompson thanked her supporters on her campaign’s Facebook page.

“Last night I called (Rule) and congratulated her on her win. It was a hard-fought race,” Thompson said.

▪ Bellingham Democrat Joe Timmons defeated Republican Dan Johnson of Laurel by 51% to 49% for the House Position 2 seat, a two-year term.

Timmons told The Herald that he was “thrilled with results” and was preparing for the next legislative session.

“I look forward to reaching out to my supporters and to the people who supported my opponent to bring the people of the 42nd District together,” Timmons told The Herald.

Johnson didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Races in the 42nd District, which includes much of downtown Bellingham, the city’s northern neighborhoods, and the rest of northern and eastern Whatcom County, were closely watched locally both locally and statewide in the midterm election.

Both House seats and the Senate seat were on the ballot in the 42nd District, and contributions for all six candidates drew nearly $2.5 million total.

In addition, political action committees mostly affiliated with partisan interests made nearly $3.5 million in independent donations for and against those six candidates.

Child care tax

Prop. 5, a countywide property tax measure to fund child care, preschool and other programs and services for children and families, was failing by 50.14% to 49.86%, or 293 votes out of 106,715 ballots cast.

It was a much closer margin than on Election Night, and the outcome could still be affected by the remaining votes.

It requires a simple majority of 50% plus one vote for approval.

Recounts are not conducted for ballot measures, Bradrick told The Herald.

Voter turnout

Some 110,852 ballots had been returned through 5 p.m. Monday in Whatcom County for a turnout rate of 70%, according to the Washington Secretary of State’s Office and the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office websites.

Statewide turnout was 64%.

Whatcom County had 157,648 active registered voters, according to the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office.

On the ballot in Whatcom County were races for U.S. Congress and the state Legislature, secretary of state, state Supreme Court, and statewide advisory measures, two local tax initiatives, District Court judges and other local positions and measures.