Races still close for some council seats

A few city council races remain close and some will be filled by write-ins in the wake of the Nov. 5 election, which will be formally certified on Dec. 2.

Bubba King will be the next Yamhill County Commissioner in Position 2 after defeating one-term incumbent Lindsay Berschauer; the tally stands now at 27,447 to 26,149, a 51.1 % to 48.7% margin.

McMinnville mayor Remy Drabkin has conceded defeat to Kim Morris, who will take office in January after winning that race 8,606 to 7,067, a 54.7% to 44.9 % margin.

The county clerk’s office will issue a new ballot count report by 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 20; voters needing to cure their signatures have until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26. The list of questioned ballots becomes public on Nov. 20 and is available upon request, according to Hinton.

Among city voting in the Nov. 5 election, three ballot measures clearly were approved by voters in Amity and Sheridan, with nearly 60% approval in each case.

Both cities easily approved measures to prohibit psilocybin businesses. In addition, Amity approved taxing marijuana outlets.

Here’s how races for city positions stand so far:

In Amity, incumbent Mayor Rachel King, who was unopposed, was re-elected with 557 votes, or 97% of those cast.

For Amity council, incumbent Melissa Rodriquez, also was re-elected with 487 votes, or 97%. No one filed for two other positions, which will be filled by write-in.

In Carlton, incumbent Mayor Linda Watkins, unopposed, received 89% of the votes, a total of 891 thus far.

In the race for three council seats, newcomer Susan Turrell had 690 votes, or 26.1%, and incumbent Kevin Skipper had 859, or 32%. Incumbent Guilherme Brandao was trailing with 516 votes, or 19.6%, and incumbent Grant Erickson had 527, or 19.7%

Dayton is choosing three council members. Incumbents Kitty Mackin has 523 votes, or 22.8%, and newcomer Robin Pederson has 539, or 22.6%. Colt Wilkins, another newcomer, is trailing slightly with 506 votes, or 21.6%. Incumbent Andrew Hildebrandt is being re-elected, with 753 votes, or 32%.

In Dundee, David Ford, currently a city council member, was elected mayor with 1,211 votes, or 95.9%; he was the sole candidate.

For three open council positions, incumbent councilor Tim Weaver is being re-elected, with 963 votes, or 25.4%, along with Michael Caruso with 802, or 21%, and Alex Chipper, with 756, or 19.8%. Trailing were Randall Glahn, with 693. or 18.2%, and Robert Daykin, with 560, or 14.7%.

Lafayette incumbent mayor Hilary Malcomson was re-elected with 92.7% of the votes cast, or 1,398 total.

Lafayette also was electing six council members in two separate races.

The top three in the race for one set of three four-year seats were Jessica Kitt, with 966, or 24.3%; Kayla Paulsen, with 1,113, or 27.9%; and Tom Reed, with 1,021, or 25.6%. The fourth candidate, Sheila Neuman, had 794 votes, or 19.9%

In the other race, two candidates filed for three two-year positions: Russell Barrows, with 1,077 votes, or 44%, and Lee Gilgan, with 1,279, or 52.3%. The other seat will be filled by write-in or appointment.

Newberg voters are choosing one council member in each of three districts.

In District 1, incumbent Elise Yarnell Hollamon is ahead with 5,933, or 54.1%, over Britta Mansfield with 4,912, or 45.2%.

In District 3, incumbent Glenn Cloyd trails with 5,309 votes, or 49.4%, behind Jeri Turgesen, who has 5,409 votes, or 50.3%. Initially, Cloyd was leading.

In District 5, incumbent Mike McBride is being re-elected, with 6,253 votes, or 57.7%, over Tyson Butler, who has 4,597 votes, or 42.3%.

Sheridan is deciding three council positions. Seven people filed. The top three candidates are incumbent James Buckles with 971 votes, or 23.3%; incumbent Dennis McElroy, with 676 votes, or 16.1%; and Peter Flynn, with 601 votes, or 14.3%.

The other Sheridan candidates are Roxie Acuff, with 525 votes, or 12.5%; Christina Avila, with 580 votes, or 13.8%; Nicole Mirabito, with 559 votes, or 13.3%; and Sean Lewis, with 191 votes, or 4.6%.

Willamina, which has voters in both Yamhill and Polk counties, was clearly electing Vickie Hernandez for mayor. Running unopposed, she had a total of 734 votes, or 95.2%, in the combined count.

For three seats on the council, the top vote-getters in the combined count are incumbent Barry Wilson with 459 votes, or 23.3%; newcomer Jennifer Eckels with 478, or 24.3%; and incumbent Craig Johnson with 416, or 21.1%. Incumbent Rita Baller was trailing with 384 votes, or 19.5%, and newcomer Jace Maroney had 230, or 11.7%.

Yamhill’s mayor’s race was tight, with only a few votes separating the leaders initially. But current council member Shea Corrigan has pulled ahead, winning by 308 votes, or 44.7%, over former mayor Chuck Mitchell, with 282, or 40.5%. Brian Denman had 99 votes, or 14.2%.

The race for two Yamhill City Council positions also was very close initially and ended up turning around as more votes were cast. Chris Featherson was a clear winner with 367 votes, or 38.5%. Current council member Tim Askey pulled ahead for the other opening, with 288 votes, or 30.2%. Pairin, who was second initially, now has 278 votes, or 29.1%.