Two ballots are dropped off in Forest Grove. Photo: Chas Hundley
The May 18, 2021 special districts election ended at 8 p.m., and the first wave of early results are in.
Results will continue to roll in as ballots are counted, and can be found on the Oregon Secretary of State’s website at results.oregonvotes.gov.
For Gales Creek-area races, some race winners are clear, owing to the fact that the candidates were running unopposed. Others are tighter and will require more votes to come in before this newspaper is comfortable declaring a winner.
For the Forest Grove School Board race in Position 1, incumbent Brad Bafaro is running unopposed and has 96.62% or 2,458 votes , Position 2’s incumbent Valyrie Ingram is also running unopposed with 97.58% or 2,421, and in the only race with two challengers, incumbent Mark Everett leads with a comfortable margin at 65.26% or 2,040 votes to challenger Mary Whitmore at 34.04% or 1,064 votes.
For the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District Board of Directors race, Cleo Howell, running unopposed for his fourth term in Position 1 will win, with 97.87% or 414 votes so far.
In Position 3, incumbent Terry Lewis leads at 62.55% or 294 votes while challenger Richard Gale has 37.02% or 174 votes in early results.
For the Portland Community College Zone 7 race, Kristi Wilson has 55.58% or 9,912 votes to Reiko Mia Williams’ 43.23% or 7.710 votes.
Election results are considered unofficial until votes are certified on June 7.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
