In Latest Ballot Count, West Seattle Council Candidates are Separated by Just Six Votes!

Shannon Braddock's (left) lead over Lisa Herbold (right) in West Seattle's District 1 has been shrinking since election night. Photos courtesy of campaigns

Wow wow wow. Six votes! SIX!

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That's all that separates city council candidates Lisa Herbold and Shannon Braddock in their race for West Seattle's District 1. Braddock has been leading this close race since election night, but late returns have been favoring Herbold. That looks good for her as we wait for ballot counts at 4:30 p.m. every day this week. (Except tomorrow because of the federal holiday.) At least 2,238 ballots from West Seattle are left to be counted. The latest numbers look like Herbold will probably overcome Braddock, but they also look ripe for a recount, which is triggered if a race is separated by less than 2,000 votes and less than .5 percent of the total votes cast in that race.

In the other close race, southeast Seattle's District 2, incumbent Bruce Harrell is holding on to his lead over challenger Tammy Morales and looking a little safer than Braddock. Just 434 votes separate Harrell and Morales, but that number has ticked up slightly for the past two days, which is good news—but not quite a guarantee—for Harrell. Also worth noting: fewer votes remain uncounted there than in District 1: at least 1,663. (A couple nuances to keep in mind on both of those remaining ballots numbers: Not every ballot cast in each district actually voted in that district's race; some people may have just voted for the citywide races or measures. And some of the ballots may have invalid signatures or other issues delaying them from being counted.)

One more thing in both of these races, but especially District 1: Why did you motherfuckers write people in?! In West Seattle, 133 ballots—far more than the half-dozen votes now separating the two candidates—had write-in answers. UGH.

Here are the latest results:

DISTRICT 1

Shannon Braddock: 49.73%

Lisa Herbold: 49.70%

DISTRICT 2

Bruce Harrell: 51.15%

Tammy Morales: 48.65%

DISTRICT 3

Kshama Sawant: 55.61%

Pamela Banks: 44.13%

DISTRICT 4

Rob Johnson: 51.73%

Michael Maddux: 47.84%

DISTRICT 5

Debora Juarez: 64.35%

Sandy Brown: 35.18%

DISTRICT 6

Mike O'Brien: 61.24%

Catherine Weatbrook: 38.49%

DISTRICT 7

Sally Bagshaw: 81.08%

Deborah Zech-Artis: 18.25%

POSITION 8

Tim Burgess: 54.93%

Jon Grant: 44.57%

POSITION 9

Lorena González: 78.00%

Bill Bradburd: 21.55%

LET'S MOVE SEATTLE LEVY:

For: 58.62%

Against: 41.38%

HONEST ELECTIONS SEATTLE:

For: 62.87%

Against: 37.13%

TIM EYMAN'S INITIATIVE 1366 (statewide):

For: 51.79%

Against: 48.21%

ENDANGERED ANIMALS INITIATIVE 1401 (statewide)

For: 70.17%

Against: 29.83%