61 votes separate 2 candidates for open Pasco council seat

Two community leaders seeking to be the newest member of the Pasco City Council were separated by just 61 votes after initial returns Tuesday night.

Nikki Torres and Leo A. Perales are vying for the District 3 seat currently held by Mayor Saul Martinez, who is stepping down at the end of the year.

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

Torres received 1,029 votes, or 51%, according to preliminary results from the Franklin County Auditor’s Office.

Perales came up with 968 votes, or 48%.

The Franklin County Auditor’s Office reported that those results came from the 8,473 ballots counted so far. The next count will be done Wednesday evening.

Mayor Pro Tem Blanche Barajas and Councilmen Craig Maloney and Pete Serrano all were unopposed in this election.

Torres is the strategic partnerships manager for Western Governor’s University. She is past president of the Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber and has served on the boards for Tri-Cities Community Health, the Kennewick Police Department Foundation and Visit Tri-Cities.

This was Torres’ first time running for political office. She has lived in Pasco for more than 40 years.

Perales is a code safety professional for an engineering company, and has served as vice chair for the Kennewick Housing Authority, Benton County Planning Commission and Kennewick Improvement Board.

A Pasco native, he moved back to Pasco a couple years ago. He previously led campaigns for Kennewick City Council in 2017 and Washington state senate in 2018.

The Pasco City Council picks its mayor from the members, so it does not mean that Martinez’s replacement will be the next mayor.

Martinez has been on the council since he was appointed in June 2010.

He was the last council member to remain after the historic 2017 redistricting election, and made history in 2020 by becoming the city’s first Latino mayor.

This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 8:31 PM.