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PACIFIC COUNTY — Long Beach elected its first woman as mayor, a challenger knocked off an incumbent for a seat on the Ocean Beach School District Board of Directors and several local government bodies will welcome new members as a result of last week’s election.

As of the most recent Nov. 13 tabulation update from the Pacific County Auditor’s Office, 7,099 ballots have been tallied countywide in the Nov. 7 general election. Election officials project that there will be at least 200 ballots left to count across the county, with the next update scheduled for Friday, Nov. 17.

Long Beach mayorWith 528 votes tallied in the contest to succeed two-term mayor Jerry Phillips, Sue Svendsen leads with 64.4% of the vote compared to Patrick Reddy’s 35.2%.

Both of the candidates currently serve on the Long Beach City Council, with Svendsen first being elected in 2019 and Reddy in 2021. Svendsen will be the first woman to serve as mayor of Long Beach.

“I am honored to serve as the first woman mayor of Long Beach,” Svendsen said in a statement to the Observer. “I am excited to hear what the residents and businesses would like to see improved or added to our wonderful community. I submitted my application to serve at the state level to support small cities and increase housing across the state.

“Thank you to Patrick for a good run,” she added. “I can empathize with his health concerns as I am going through cancer treatment myself. I remain open to input and encourage debate among the council members.”

None of the three city council seats up for grabs featured multiple candidates. Mark Perez, incumbent Larry Phelps and Ralph Provenzano were each running uncontested, and will serve alongside Reddy and George Coleman as councilors beginning in January.

School boardThree of the five seats on the OBSD school board were up for grabs in this election, with two of those positions drawing multiple candidates. Anna Taft, the only incumbent facing a challenger, has lost her race to Mark Mansell. With 3,954 votes cast so far, Mansell leads with 54.7% of the vote, while Taft has 44.3%.

“I am very appreciative of the opportunity to represent the stakeholders as a member of the school board,” Mansell said in a statement. “My commitment is to work hard in the service of our students, to support our teachers and staff, and to represent the community in the decisions that will shape the future of the Ocean Beach School District. It is an honor to be entrusted by the voters with this very important work.”

The other incumbent on the ballot who is still actively running, Don Zuern, was running unopposed and has been elected to another four-year term on the board.

In the third contest, incumbent John Holtermann’s name is on the ballot even though he resigned last month after announcing he was moving out of the area and would be ineligible to serve on the board if elected. Two individuals, Claire Bruncke and Karen Stephens, registered as write-in candidates in the wake of Holtermann’s announcement.

But with 3,269 votes counted, Holtermann has received 65.9% of the vote, while write-ins have combined to receive 34.1% of the vote. It was not immediately clear what percentage of voters wrote in Bruncke, Stephens or another individual’s name.

Pacific County Auditor Alex Gerow told the Observer last week that only the total number of write-in votes cast will be initially reported, rather than vote totals for each of the registered write-in candidates. She cited a state law that states the votes cast for qualified write-in candidates only must be canvassed and reported when the total number of write-in votes cast exceeds the number of votes cast for the candidate appearing on the ballot.

“If this threshold is met, it will be included as part of the official results following certification,” Gerow said.

With Holtermann being ineligible to serve out his new four-year term, the school board will have the responsibility of appointing his replacement. The seat will then be up for election again next fall to serve out the remainder of the term.

Other racesIn the race for the open seat on the Port of Peninsula Commission, Chuck Mikkola leads Keli Lucero. With 2,625 ballots counted so far, Mikkola has received 56.4% of the vote compared to Lucero’s 42.9%.

“I’m appreciative and thankful for the community support that went into this port race. Even though I had no campaign committee, I saw and heard so many in our community offer support,” Mikkola said in a statement. “It was without question a reason to push the ports affairs into the limelight. Whether I earned you vote or lost your vote I am still thankful to the voters of this county and the port district who took the time to vote. It’s the foundation of our democratic process.”

In the only actively contested Ilwaco City Council race, incumbent Matt Lessnau beat challenger Richard Rubio in his bid for another four-year term in office. With 336 votes tallied so far, Lessnau has received 67.3% of the vote compared to Rubio’s 31.6%.

“Through this year’s primary and the general election, I’m glad Ilwaco had a choice in candidates for both council seats — I hope contested races are the norm moving forward, not the exception,” Lessnau said in a statement. “I’m profoundly grateful the residents of Ilwaco saw value in my contributions to our city and have granted me another four years to serve them and their interests and to keep Ilwaco moving forward.”

In the other city council race up for election, Josh Phillips leads with 70.4% of the vote and will become the city’s newest councilor. Phillips’ name appears on the ballot alongside Val Perkins, who advanced in the August primary election despite announcing earlier in the summer that she was suspending her candidacy because she was moving out of the area.

Challenger Gary Flood leads incumbent Gwen Brake for a seat on the North Beach Water District Board of Commissioners. Flood has 61.7% of the vote with 1,296 votes tallied, and Brake has 37.7%.

Nicholas Matson won a position on the Port of Chinook Commission with about 54% of votes to Scott Staab’s 45%.

In the contest for a position on the Seaview Sewer District Commission, Kenneth Puhl is ahead over Rachel Wyrick. With 115 ballots counted, Puhl has 60.5% compared to Wyrick’s 39.5%.

Two county-level positions were also up for election, but neither were contested. Appointed county commissioner David Tobin, a Democrat, and appointed auditor Alex Gerow, an independent, were each elected to serve out the remainder of the term for the position they were appointed to earlier this year.

Voter turnout currently sits at 42.2%, down from 49.4% in 2019. The 2019 ballot did include two high-profile statewide ballot measures and a proposed amendment to the state constitution, with no such measures on the ballot this go-round. Statewide turnout currently sits at 35.3%, down from 45.2% in 2019.