Boyce, Ralph earn seats on Kent City Council; incumbents Ranniger, Thomas also win | Election 2011 Results

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