County candidates react to preliminary election results

SNOHOMISH COUNTY — Incumbents seem to have prevailed as votes continue to come in for various Snohomish County races.

In the race for Snohomish County Council District 1, incumbent John Koster is leading with 12,059 votes (55.83 percent) over challenger Ellen Hiatt Watson, who has 9,460 (43.79 percent) of the votes as of 5 p.m. Nov. 4.

Koster, a Republican, said that he's glad that voters decided to reach across party lines and elect him.

"I've been out door-belling since April and did almost 13,000 doors," Koster said Wednesday, April 4. "We did the work and I think people recognize balance and a common sense approach."

Watson said she was looking forward to moving ahead with her life, and said that she was proud of how her campaign was organized.

"We gave it our absolute best," Watson said. "We're facing an entrenched incumbent and we improved over our primary numbers. We just needed more time and we didn't have enough."

For the Superior Court Judge Position No. 2, incumbent Joe Wilson appears to have won with 34,745 votes (40 percent), besting David Hulbert (13,922, 16.03 percent), Rico Tessandore (25,849, 29.76 percent), Scott Peterson (7,183, 8.27 percent) and Scott Lord (4,668 votes, 5.37 percent).

Margo Powell leads Jeff Cartwright for the Hospital District Commissioner No. 3 position. Powell has 2,825 votes (57.40 percent) compared to Cartwright's 2,081 votes (42.28 percent).

The Sno-Isle District Levy appears to be passing with 51.64 percent of the vote (41,523 votes).

The levy requires a simply majority, or 50 percent plus 1 vote, to pass.

Sno-Isle Libraries Community Relations Director Mary Kelly said that it's too close to call a victory, but said that she's glad that the votes are heading in the right direction.

"People really responded to how we weren't asking for the maximum levy increase," Kelly said. "We're making additional cuts even if the levy passed and that really resonated with people."

If the levy does not pass, library spending will be cut by $2.5 million, according to Sno-Isle Libraries Director Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory.

Results will be updated again at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5.