Blush, Smith advance in council race

George Blush and Tristen Smith will compete for a seat on the Shelton City Council in the November general election, and voters solidly support increasing the size of the Mason County Fire District 5 board of commissioners from three to five.

Those are among the preliminary results of Tuesday’s primary election posted at 8 p.m. The next ballot count is scheduled to be updated at 5 p.m. Wednesday, after the Journal had gone to press. The initial voter turnout was 28.17%. The results are scheduled to be certified on Aug. 15.

In the contest to whittle the Shelton City Council member No. 1 seat race from three candidates to two, Blush received 565 votes for 60.95%, Smith 232 votes for 25.03% and Eagleson with 122 votes for 13.16%. Write-in candidates received eight votes.

James Boad, owner of the Wilde Irish Pub in downtown Shelton, holds the seat but declined to run for re-election after one four-year term.

Blush is the owner of Nita’s Koffee Shop in downtown Shelton, runs the nonprofit 5XL Shelton Pet Food Bank, and is the chairman of the Mason County Housing Authority Board of Directors.

On Wednesday morning, Blush told the Journal he appreciates the support from voters.

“I plan to make Shelton a cleaner, safer place to live and work,” he said.

Smith is a member of the city’s Historic Preservation Committee. She could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Nov. 6 general election has two other seats up for grabs. Incumbent Kathy McDowell and Melissa Stearns are vying to be council member No. 2, and Mark Frazier and Tom Gilmore are competing to be member No. 5.

Voters in Mason County Fire District 5 on the first ballot count Tuesday were overwhelmingly approving the expansion of its board of commissioners from three to five with 2,830 “yes” votes for 70.36%, and 1,192 “no” votes for 29.64%.

The Mason County Fire District 16’s six-year EMS levy was too close to call on the first count, with 359 “yes” votes for 51.65%, and 336 “no” votes for 48.35%.