5 Takeaways From The Pierce County General Election

PIERCE COUNTY, WA — The overwhelming majority of Pierce County's ballots have been tallied as of Friday afternoon, and we're starting to get a fairly solid grasp on how a few of the county's biggest races landed. And some of those results, have been more than a little surprising.

Before we get into them, it must be stressed that none of the election results are final. While they are very unlikely to swing too dramatically as the last few ballots are tallied, the Pierce County Auditor's Office will not certify the election results until Nov. 23, and until then the results are not final.

That out of the way, here are a few interesting takeaways from 2021's Nov. 2 General Election:

Fewer voters cast their ballots than anticipated

Odd year elections always have depressed turnouts, and there was no way this election was going to have the same impact as last year's, when the presidential election was on the line.

But even keeping that in mind, fewer Pierce County voters cast their ballot this year than local election experts expected. As of Friday, election officials have received 177,738 ballots from the county's 554,363 registered voters, a turnout of 32.06 percent. That's not terrible, but it is less than the 39 percent the Pierce County Auditor's Office predicted going in to election season.

Woodards is sailing to re-election in Tacoma

Tacoma's incumbent Mayor Victoria Woodards is virtually guaranteed to retain her title, earning 59.65 percent of the vote so far. While her challenger Steve Haverly, who has pulled in 39.76 percent of the vote thus far, had almost no political experience and little name recognition, Woodards' re-election was not a shoo-in. As Matt Driscoll noted in his column for The News Tribune, Woodards' Tacoma has struggled to handle familiar problems like homelessness, affordable housing, racism and police reform.

"Woodards’ victory appeared resounding Tuesday night, but we shouldn’t mistake that for an endorsement of the status quo from anyone, conservatives or liberals alike," Driscoll wrote.

Puyallup's Prop. 1 is just barely failing

This election, Puyallup voters were asked to help fund an $82.7 million public safety building, which would house the police department, the local jail and the Puyallup Municipal Court. Supporters of the project argued that current public safety buildings are out of date, including the current Puyallup police building, which was built in the late 1960s.

Unfortunately for those supporters, there is a very real chance that the measure will fail by the slimmest of margins. As of Friday's count, the proposition has a 59.35 percent approval rate. That would be enough to pass a measure in some situations, but in Pierce County levies or bonds need to receive 60 percent approval-- meaning unless the building can get a 0.65 percent increase in the last batch of ballots, it's not going to make it.

Bonney Lake may have a new mayor for the first time in 15 years

Bonney Lake Mayor Neil Johnson Jr. has held the title since 2006, but it looks like his term will be coming to a close thanks to relative newcomer Michael C. McCullough, who has pulled ahead with 53.05 percent of the vote.

In his candidate profile for Patch, McCullough, a Public Defender with the King County Department of Public Defense, admitted that he was new to Bonney Lake politics, but his promise to help balance Bonney Lake's growth with the community's residential needs appears to have struck a chord with voters.

East Pierce Fire will not get the funding it requested

Residents of East Pierce County were asked to approve a levy lid lift, increasing the fire department's current levy to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Firefighters argued the increase is necessary to keep up with the rapid growth East Pierce County has seen over recent years, but the voters did not agree: the proposition is currently failing at 48.53 percent approval.

That's bad news for East Pierce Fire, who says it needs that funding to keep call times down, but it could also have ramifications outside of East Pierce County. In Gig Harbor, for example, the Gig Harbor Fire Department is considering a similar levy hike which they are hoping to present to the community soon. Following the failure of this levy, they may have their work cut out for them.