Field narrows to 2 in race to replace outgoing Pasco mayor

A community activist and a political newcomer are headed to the general election in a race to replace outgoing Pasco Mayor Saul Martinez.

Leo A. Perales and Nikki Torres will face off Nov. 2 for the District 3 seat on the Pasco City Council.

Torres led the field of four candidates after Tuesday night’s initial results with 721 votes, or 40%.

Perales came up second with 610 votes, or 34%.

Irving L. Brown Sr. trailed with 353 votes, or 20%, and Steven X Martinez got 5% with 92 votes.

Only the top two vote-getters advance.

Martinez confirmed in May that he was leaving city politics to focus on his family. He’s been on the city council since June 2010.

The winner in the November election will not become the next mayor. That position will be chosen in January by council members.

It is a 4-year term and covers the northeastern part of the city.

A majority of District 3 is north of Interstate 182, from Convention Place on the west end extending to the city limits east of Highways 395 and 12 at Dietrich Road.

Perales, a Pasco native, says the city needs a new generation of leadership and he is the one with “proven critical experience and depth of knowledge to get things done.”

Torres is a strategic partnerships manager for Western Governors University and a past president of the Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She says leadership is needed to put Pasco on a path to full recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

This story was originally published August 3, 2021 at 9:31 PM.