Primary certified

The 2022 primary election reached its official conclusion Tuesday when Mason County’s election canvassing board voted to certify the results.

A total of 20,413 ballots were cast out of 43,369 registered voters in the county — a turnout of 47.07% for the Aug. 2 election.

In the race for Mason County Commissioner District No. 3, Miguel Gutierrez was the top vote-getter with 2,387 votes (43.06%). Incumbent commissioner Sharon Trask advanced to the Nov. 8 general election with 1,666 votes (30.05%). Mark Carlson was third in the race with 1,487 votes (26.82%). Only voters in District 3’s boundaries were eligible to vote in the primary, but the race opens to all voters in Mason County in the general election.

In the 35th Legislative District, Position No. 2, Sandy Kaiser and Travis Couture advanced to the general election with 45.26% and 26.94% of the vote, respectively, from the three-county area. Kaiser and Couture finished first and second in all three counties’ vote totals. Drew MacEwen, the incumbent, is running for retiring Tim Sheldon’s vacant state Senate seat.

In Mason County’s only other knockout primary, Juli Tuson and Randy Lewis advanced to the general election in the Mason County PUD 3 District 1 commissioner race. Tuson received 2,156 votes and Lewis got 2,017.

None of those advancing to the general changed from the county’s initial ballot tabulation on election night.

Emergency Medical Service levies for City of Shelton, Central Mason Fire & EMS, Fire District 4 and Fire District 11 all passed with more than 60% of the vote.

Incumbents narrowly led in all other Mason County government races, with the race for county clerk between incumbent Sharon K. Moore-Fogo and challenger Charles G. Rhodes being the closest. Moore-Fogo received 9,897 votes to Rhodes’ 9,889 — a difference of just eight votes. Despite the narrow margin, there is no mandatory recount between first- and second-place finishers in the primary election.

The closely watched auditor’s race between incumbent Paddy McGuire and challenger Steve Duenkel saw McGuire finish with a 308-vote lead — 10,115 to 9,807.

In Washington’s 6th Congressional District, which now includes all of Mason County — prior to this year the southern portion of the county was in the 10th — incumbent Derek Kilmer captured 50.38% of the districtwide vote and will face Elizabeth Kreiselmaier (23.77%) in the Nov. 8 general election. In Mason County, Kilmer received 39.73% and Kreiselmaier got 27.77%.

Incumbent Senator Patty Murray advanced to the general election in the U.S. Senate race with 52.22 percent of the statewide total. Challenger Tiffany Smiley got 33.69%.

In the only other statewide office race, Steve Hobbs and Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson advanced in the Secretary of State race. Hobbs is the incumbent in the race. He was appointed by Gov. Jay Insee after Kim Wyman resigned to take a job in the federal government in 2021.

Author Bio

Justin Johnson, Editor

Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
Email: [email protected]