The Kent City Council will have two new members in January with Bill Boyce and Dana Ralph cruising to victories in Tuesday’s election.
Boyce is easily beating incumbent Debbie Raplee with 58.6 percent of the vote for Position No. 5 through Tuesday night. Ralph leads Michael Sealfon with 62.1 percent of the vote for Position No. 7 to replace Ron Harmon, who decided against running for a third term.
Incumbent Deborah Ranniger withstood challenger Bailey Stober as she had 66.8 percent of the vote for Position No. 1. Incumbent Les Thomas had 59.4 percent of the vote against challenger Nancy Skorupa for Position No. 3. Ranniger and Thomas each were reelected to their third, four-year terms.
Boyce, a Boeing human resource analyst who has served 17 years on the Kent School Board, plans to resign from his school director position in early 2012.
“I was kind of shocked,” Boyce said in phone interview Wednesday about his large lead over Raplee. “We worked really, really hard and felt we had a good chance of winning. But the numbers were bigger than we thought.”
Boyce credited his years of service on the school board, 10 years as a Little League coach and other roles in the community for his victory.
“I have a lot of community service and time I have put in and people responded to the work I’ve done,” Boyce said.
Boyce said he wants to provide leadership to the council and work with the Kent Chamber of Commerce and business community.
“We need to figure out what’s best for the city of Kent,” Boyce said. “I’m very excited. I love this place and am looking forward to serve the city. We need to find a way to get more business and revenue for the city.”
Raplee and Boyce waged an amicable campaign. Raplee, a Boeing staff analyst, has served eight years on the council.
“I want to thank Debbie Raplee for her eight years of service to the city,” Boyce said.
Ralph, who has run a medical billing service in Kent for 16 years, defeated Sealfon, a retired U.S. Army colonel and a Vietnam veteran.
“I was really excited and relieved,” Ralph said. “I’m ready to get to work.”
Ralph has served eight years on the city’s Land Use and Planning Board and seven years on the Kent Arts Commission. She is currently chairwoman of the land use board and the arts commission.
“I think it was the hard work, the door belling and talking to as many people as possible and gathering community support,” Ralph said about the keys to her victory.
Ranniger, the executive director of resource development at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, overcame attack ads and comments from Stober, a retail store loss prevention manager, to hold on to her seat. She had received the most votes of any council candidate through Tuesday.
Thomas, a retired gemologist, held off Skorupa, owner of Renaissance Yarns in Kent.
The council has seven members who are elected to four-year terms and paid $13,752 per year for their part-time positions. The terms of council members Jamie Perry, Dennis Higgins and Elizabeth Albertson expire at the end of 2013.
King County Elections tabulated 279,744 ballots through Tuesday. Election officials estimate a total return of about 560,000 ballots, or 52 percent of registered voters.
In other election results, the race for Valley Medical Center commissioner has Paul Joos winning with 58 percent of the vote over Mary Alice Heuschel.
The statewide measures on the ballot showed the liquor initiative leading and the transportation initiative losing.
Kent City Council
Council Position No. 1
Deborah Ranniger – 7,125 – 66.79 percent
Bailey Stober – 3,496 – 32.77 percent
Write-in – 46 .43 percent
Council Position No. 3
Les Thomas – 6,275 – 59.39 percent
Nancy Skorupa – 4,254 – 40.26 percent
Write-in – 37 – .35 percent
Council Position No. 5
Bill Boyce – 6,227- 58.59 percent
Debbie Raplee – 4,366 – 41.08 percent
Write-in – 35 – .33 percent
Council Position No. 7
Dana Ralph – 6,420 – 62.11 percent
Michael S. Sealfon – 3,876 – 37.50 percent
Write-in 41 – .40 percent
Kent School District
Director District No. 1
Russell Hanscom – 9,968 – 65.19 percent
Larry Sims – 5,229 – 34.20 percent
Write-in – 93 – 0.61 percent
Director District No. 3
Debbie Straus – 9,015 – 58.51 percent
Leslie Kae Hamada – 6,316 – 40.99 percent
Write-in – 77 – 0.50 percent
Public Hospital District No. 1 – Valley Medical Center
Commissioner District No. 1
Paul Joos – 17,144 – 58.01 percent
Mary Alice Heuschel -12,325 – 41.70 percent
Write-in – 86 0.29 percent
State Wide Initiatives
Initiative Measure No. 1125 concerns state expenditures on transportation
Yes – 546,811 48.98 percent
No – 569,476 51.02 percent
Total Votes – 1,092,369 – 100 percent
Initiative Measure No. 1163 concerns long-term care workers and services for elderly and disabled people
Yes – 746,535 66.76 percent
No – 371,624 33.24 percent
Total Votes – 1,094,149 – 100 percent
Initiative Measure No. 1183 concerns liquor: beer, wine, and spirits (hard liquor).
Yes – 680,296 – 59.7 percent
No – 459,159 – 40.3 percent
Total Votes – 1,139,455 – 100 percent
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