City Council race headed for machine recount

Miguel Gutierrez holds a five-vote lead over George W. Blush for a seat on the Shelton City Council following the final Nov. 2 general election ballot count released on Monday, triggering a recount by the Mason County Auditor’s Office.

Gutierrez had 728 votes for 49.59% and Blush 723 votes for 49.25% in their race for a four-year seat as council member No. 7. Write-in candidates had received 17 votes.

The results released on Nov. 4 had Gutierrez with a three-vote lead.

A couple weeks ago, Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire told the Journal that by law, an automatic machine count will be conducted if the difference is less than one-half of 1%, and a hand recount if the difference is less than one-quarter of 1%.

A tie between candidates would be resolved by a coin flip, he said.

The rest of the ballot results were certified on Tuesday.

The Mason County Auditor’s Office on Monday reported that 89 ballots had been received after 8 p.m. Nov. 2, making them invalid. On another 42 ballots, the signatures on the envelope did not match the signatures on the ballots.

Blush owns Nita’s Koffee Shop in downtown Shelton. He is the executive director of the nonprofit 5XL Shelton pet food bank and is chairman of the Mason County Housing Authority. Blush ran unsuccessfully foe a council seat four years ago.

Gutierrez taught special election, and wrote grant proposals for the Conservation Corps. He also trained volunteers for BAYAC AmeriCorps and developed a youth camping program for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.