Several city council races will no longer appear on the August primary ballot, after a handful of candidates withdrew earlier this week.
More than 100 candidates filed for open elected positions across Cowlitz County last week. After the changes, eight races will go to the Aug. 1 primary instead of 12, as it appeared when filing wrapped up on May 19.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs joined Good Day Seattle to talk about preparations for upcoming elections in Washington state.
Monday was the last day to officially withdraw. Anyone who drops out now will still appear on the ballot.
Developer Larry Wood withdrew from the race for Longview City Councilmember Mike Wallin’s seat. The mayor pro tem is set to face Kalei LaFave in November.
Kelso City Councilmember Keenan Harvey will only face one challenger — Garrett Colkitt — after Richard Alan Sims dropped out.
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Staci Mangan pulled out of the race for Kalama City Councilmember Matthew Merz’s seat. Mangan wrote on Facebook she withdrew to support Rob Gibbs, who will face Deb Geiger in the general election.
The race for Woodland mayor will still go to the primary, but is down from four to three candidates after Woodland Police Sgt. James Keller dropped out.
The race to replace Port of Longview Commissioner Doug Averett is down to one candidate — Evan Jones — after Lacey Hoffman withdrew. Averett is not running for another six-year term.
As of Thursday afternoon, the county elections office had not received any filings during the special three-day filing period for the nine seats no one filed for last week, said Hayley Johnson, elections manager. The deadline was end-of-day Thursday.
The open positions include all four commissioner seats for the Woodland Swimming Pool & Recreation District, all three commissioner seats for Silver Lake and Toutle’s Cemetery District 3, one seat for Cemetery District 4 in Kelso, and one seat for Cemetery District 6 near Kelso.
Cowlitz County Auditor Carolyn Fundingsland said if nobody files for the offices during the special filing period, the positions will be declared lapsed and will not appear on this year’s ballots.
Candidates have until 5 p.m. Friday to submit statements and photos for the voters’ pamphlet. Of the 101 approved filings, the Cowlitz County Elections Office had received 42 statements and 41 photos as of Thursday afternoon, Johnson said.
Candidates can email their submission to the elections office directly or submit it through the online candidate portal. The office has a photo studio set up for any candidates needing a photo taken. Statements are printed exactly as submitted.
