Washougal Mayor David Stuebe holds lead in 17th Legislative District race, ‘thankful’ for supporters

With around 3,500 ballots left to count in Clark County, Washougal Mayor David Stuebe seems to have won his race for Washington’s 17th Legislative District, Position 2 seat.

As of Wednesday, Nov. 13, Stuebe, a Republican, has 42,180 votes (50.36%) to Democratic candidate Terri Niles’ 41,238 votes (49.35%).

Stuebe, who has said he plans to retain his position on the Washougal City Council and as the city’s mayor if elected to the state legislature, told The Post-Record this week that he is grateful for people who backed him in the Nov. 5 election. 

“I’m just really thankful for the people that supported me and trust me,” Stuebe said. “I’m ready to go to work for them.”

Republican Rep. Kevin Waters, who ran unopposed for the 17th Legislative District’s Position 1 seat, has garnered 54,772 votes (93.3%) with just 3,934 (6.7%) votes going toward write-in candidates.

In the race for the Washington state Senate District 17 seat, Republican Paul Harris — the current 17th District Position 2 representative — has defeated Democratic candidate Marla Keethler. The latest 17th District Senate race results show Harris has 43,175 (51.18%) votes and Keethler has 41,063 (48.67%) votes.

The race for Clark County Council’s District 4 position remains too close to call and could trigger an automatic recount. As of Nov. 13, Camas resident Matt Little leads his opponent, Vancouver farmer Joe Zimmerman, by 82 votes and has received 23,402 (49.7%) votes to Zimmerman’s 23,320 (49.52%) votes. 

In Washington state, a mandatory machine recount for non-statewide races is required when the vote difference is less than 2,000 votes and also less than one-half of 1% of the total number of votes cast for both candidates; and a manual recount is required when the vote difference between the top two candidates is fewer than 150 votes and also less than one-fourth of 1% of the total votes cast for both candidates. 

In the race between Little and Zimmerman, a machine recount is likely, while a manual recount would be required if the vote difference is less than 150 votes and also less than one-fourth of 1% of the total votes, which would be around 116 votes according to the vote totals tallied by Wednesday, Nov. 13. 

The Clark County Elections Office has counted 274,067 ballots as of Nov. 13. Voter turnout for the Nov. 5 general election was at 79% in Clark County as of Wednesday morning.