Update: 5 key takeaways from Tri-Cities 2025 election night
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Under 25% turnout produced decisive outcomes and multiple razor-thin races.
- Richland shifted right; GOP challengers won seats and one deceased candidate prevailed.
- Local levies and district contests hinge on a few dozen late ballots and margins.
About 3-in-10 voters in the Tri-Cities region returned their general election ballots before drop boxes closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Those few voters delivered decisive wins and nail-bitters alike in nearly 100 local races on the Nov. 4 general election ballot in Benton and Franklin counties. Turnout is expected to be similar to the 2021 election cycle, if not possibly lower.
As the dust settles, a few key takeaways took shape:
1. Richland elects candidate who died
Richland voters appeared to return two city council members to office and elected a candidate who died after qualifying for the election in the August primary.
The Benton County Republic Party issued four endorsements and recommendations for the nonpartisan council. Notably, it advised voters to support the late Donald Landsman over a recent high school graduate for the seat being vacated by Ryan Lukson.
Landsman received 60% of the vote. The council will appoint an interim in January.
Patricia “Pat” Holten, who was endorsed by the local GOP, easily won her race to replace Sandra Kent, a longtime incumbent who lost her seat in the August primary. Holten’s opponent confirmed he would not take office if he won after realizing he was ineligible for office.
In another contested race, the council’s most independent incumbent, Kurt Maier, was losing by 24 votes on election night to his GOP-endorsed challenger, Kyle Saltz. When more ballots were cast, Maier rallied. By Friday, he led with 289 votes, or 51% of the vote to Saltz’s 48%.
Incumbent Ryan Whitten, who also was recommended by the GOP, held a 309-vote lead over his challenger, Colin Michael, or 51% to 48.5%.
Voters in the city also shot down an opportunity to overhaul their election systems by creating neighborhood districts similar to Pasco and Kennewick.
The measure was failing, 56% to 44%, or 6,721 against and about 5,325 in favor.
2. Fresh and familiar faces for the ports
Bill O’Neil defeated Roy Keck in a race that centered on the port’s attempts to raise rents at the Richland Airport to market rates, as required by the Federal Aviation Administration.
O’Neil received 4,397 votes to Keck’s 4,122, or 51% to 48%.
Keck’s pending departure shifts power on the three-person board of commissioners.
That in turn could spark a change in leadership for the economic development agency at a time when it is focused on billions in proposed economic activity on former Hanford land.
The port famously has a $9 million deal to sell land to Atlas Agro North America for its proposed $1.5 billion “low-carbon” fertilizer plant. But the project has faltered, and the port recently said it wouldn’t extend the deal beyond six months unless company officials provided an update on their progress.
Atlas Agro has said publicly it is moving ahead with the plan, which has grown to include a $500 million data center on a separate site next to the fertilizer plant.
- In Pasco, Matt Watkins is returning to public office as one of three Port of Pasco commissioners.
The lifelong Tri-Citian who spent 16 years on the Pasco City Council, including 10 as mayor, was elected to succeed Jean Ryckman, who said she would retire last spring.
Watkins was unopposed.
Watkins left the city council in 2019 — and his job — to travel the world for two years.
Post-travels, he resettled in Pasco and took a job with the Pasco Public Facilities District to oversee design and construction of the voter-approved aquatics center in the Broadmoor area.
Watkins said serving on the port commission is a continuation of his interest in civic engagement and the community.
- In Kennewick, the port’s first ever Hispanic commissioner was elected on Tuesday.
Raul Contreras Gonzalez defeated Tammy Kenfield for the seat being vacated by Tom Moak, who did not seek reelection.
Contreras Gonzalez holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Washington State University, is bilingual and serves as assistant director of the Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
3. Will Eastern WA’s attorney return to his council seat?
Pete Serrano, the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, was elected to his old position.
With no challenger on the ballot, the conservative litigator swept up a solid 95%, or 1,100 votes, in favor of his election to the Pasco City Council’s District 4 seat. He was unable to withdraw his name from the general election ballot before being picked by President Trump and sworn into federal office in August.
Serrano can only serve for 120 days before he must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, with his appointment set to end Dec. 9. But an ongoing federal government shutdown and pushback from U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, who has promised to block his confirmation, has complicated the process.
Serrano told the Tri-City Herald before the shutdown that he was “100% focused on being confirmed” and that he’ll see how the election plays out. Serrano could not be reach by phone Wednesday morning.
Joe Cotta, a pastor and former Tri-Cities legislative candidate, was selected in September to serve out the final weeks of Serrano’s city council term.
Serrano will have a decision to make after the election results are certified on Nov. 25. If he declines to take the city council seat, the elected body will again have to search for a replacement to serve in his absence.
4. Rural Tri-City residents watching their wallets
Rural voters were asked to pass crucial tax funding for schools and fire districts, but voters were hesitant to give them the OK.
Kiona-Benton City School District will likely cut sports, band and STEM classes after voters there rejected a two-year, $4.9 million levy.
It was failing with 52% against the measure and 48% in favor. Nearly 60 votes make up the difference right now.
It’s the last chance for the district serving 1,400 students to pass local funding before its local revenue is cut off for 2026. Its existing levy will expire in December.
- In north Franklin County, a fire district’s chance at a levy lid lift was passing by just nine votes.
Franklin County Fire District 1 is asking voters to more than double its levy rate to 85 cents on every $1,000 of assessed property value after years of stagnant revenue increases.
The fire agency serves more than 2,500 rural residents across a sprawling 411 square miles in north Franklin County.
Since 2005, calls have gone up 300%. Over the last six years, truck maintenance and insurance costs have both doubled. Fuel, equipment, radios and training materials have also all gone up. The additional revenue would help the agency maintain its fleets, expand services, lower insurance rates and provide firefighters with crucial training.
The proposition was passing 52%, or 109 votes, to 48%, or 100 votes.
5. Challenger ousts Pasco Council incumbent
Challenger Calixto Hernandez has likely ousted Melissa Blasdel, the appointed Pasco City Council incumbent, in District 6.
Hernandez trailed by 19 votes on election night but rallied in ballots counted Wednesday evening to a 63-vote lead.
He holds 54% support, or 380 votes, to Blasdel’s 45%, or 320 votes.
Franklin County elections officials are not counting more ballots until the certification deadline in two weeks.
Leo Perales, the incumbent for Pasco City Council District 3, won his reelection. He defeated challenger Bryan Verhei, 69% to 31%, or 1,700 to 700 votes.
And Pasco School Board President Amanda Brown won a second term this week against former three-term school board member Steve Christensen.
It was the school board race watch this cycle. And while Brown held an edge in election night results in the Director District 3 race, her lead grew throughout the week to 8 percentage points.
The Kennewick teacher is leading 54%, or 1,200 votes, to Christensen’s 46%, or 1,000 votes.
“I don’t think there’s any way this could break out in my favor,” Christensen said on Friday, conceding the race.
The mechanical engineer and small business owner says he’ll continue to be involved in Pasco schools and the community.
Here are how other school board races around the Tri-Cities shook out. Ballot totals were updated Thursday in Benton County and Wednesday in Franklin County:
- Kennewick School Board, Director No. 1: incumbent Micah Valentine, 56% or 8,500 votes; Robert Franklin, 44% or 6,700 votes.
- Kennewick School Board, Director No. 2: incumbent Gabe Galbraith, 70% or 10,500 votes; Nic Uhnak, 30% or 4,500 votes.
- Richland School Board, Director No. 1: incumbent Bonnie Mitchell, 92% or 13,100 votes; Jacques Bakhazi, 8% or 1,100 votes.
- Richland School Board, Director No. 2: incumbent Rick Jansons, 97% or 11,700 votes.
- Pasco School Board, Director District 4: Heather Kubalek, 99% or 2,500 votes.
- Pasco School Board, Director At-Large: Scott Lehrman, 60% or 5,900 votes; Valerie Torres, 40% or 4,000 votes.
This story was originally published November 5, 2025 at 12:50 PM.
