Bertlin, Hague Maintain Leads, Disapproval for I-1125 grows

The latest round of votes counted in the 2011 General Election shows little change Wednesday night as county and state officials received an influx of late ballots cast in the final days of the election

Mercer Island City Council challenger Debbie Bertlin slightly extended her lead over Deputy Mayor El Jahncke, with Bertlin leading with 58.7 percent of the vote (3,276 votes) over Jahncke's 41 percent (2,289 votes) out of 6,204 ballots counted in the race.

King County County Council District 6 incumbent Jane Hague also maintained her lead over challenger and Mercer Island resident Richard Mitchell, 53.9 to 45.9 percent.

King County Elections tallied an additional 46,000 ballots on Wednesday.

“Elections has received about 520,000 ballots to date,” said Sherril Huff, Director of Elections. “We received about 90,000 of those in the mail early today and have collected about 30,000 from our drop boxes since Monday.”
King County estimates a total election return of about 560,000 ballots, or 52 percent of registered voters.

Initatives 1163 and 1183 also maintained a slightly smaller margin of approval, while disapproval of Tim Eyman-authored Initiative 1125 grew slightly — led primarily by King County voters, who disapprove of the measure, 61-39.

State:

•Initiative Measure 1125, concerning state expenditures on transportation.

Yes 603,629, 48.56 percent

No 639,349, 51.44 percent

•Initiative Measure 1163, concerning long-term care workers and services for elderly and disabled people.

Yes 824,575, 66.24 percent

No 420,168, 33.76 percent

•Initiative Measure 1183, concerning liquor: beer, wine, and spirits (hard liquor).

Yes 756,469, 59.61 percent

No 512,536, 40.39 percent

•Senate Joint Resolution 8205, concerning the length of time a voter must reside in Washington to vote for president and vice president.

Yes 871,707, 71.85 percent

No 341,588, 28.15 percent

•Senate Joint Resolution 8206, concerning the budget stabilization account maintained in the state treasury.

Yes 793,763, 66.87 percent

No 393,271, 33.13 percent

King County

•Director of Elections

Mark Greene  56,679, 22.89 percent

Sherril Huff  189,720, 76.62 percent

Write-in 1,214, 0.49 percent

•Metropolitan King County Council District No. 6

Jane Hague 18,638, 53.85 percent

Richard E. Mitchell 15,871, 45.85 percent

Write-in 103, 0.30 percent

•Metropolitan King County Council District No. 8

Joe McDermott 19,428, 67.15 percent

Diana Toledo 9,398, 32.48 percent

Write-in 106, 0.37 percent

•Port of Seattle Commissioner Position No. 2

Richard Pope 111,282, 43.37 percent

Gael Tarleton 144,220, 56.21 percent

Write-in 1,091, 0.43 percent

•Port of Seattle Commissioner Position No. 5

Dean Willard 92,615, 37.07 percent

Bill Bryant 155,931, 62.42 percent

Write-in 1,20, 0.50 percent           

Mercer Island:

Debbie Bertlin 3,276, 58.7 percent

El Jahncke 2,289, 41.0 percent