West Richland veterans soundly defeating challengers, though 1 long-timer is gone

West Richland residents are in favor of keeping a full-time mayor based on the way they voted in Tuesday’s general election.

But they also decided it’s time for a new face in Position 3 and voted out a councilwoman who’s been serving West Richland for nearly a quarter century.

Mayor Brent Gerry, who has led the city for eight years, was returned to office with 68% of the vote, or 1,914 votes.

His challenger, Councilwoman Kate Moran, had hoped to start a public discussion about switching West Richland from a strong-mayor system to a council-manager form of government.

She trailed Gerry with 31% of the vote, or 882 votes.

Councilwoman Gail Brown came in behind her challenger with 1,033 votes, or 38%. She has been on the board for 24 years.

Opponent May Hays will replace her next year after receiving 1,675 votes, or 62%. She is the executive director of the West Richland Area Chamber of Commerce.

As for the council’s three other seats that were up for election Tuesday: one contested incumbent will return, as will another who ran unopposed; and an open seat will be filled by a former council member.

Councilman John E. Smart, a six-year incumbent, kept his Position 1 seat with 1,653 votes, or 62%.

Challenger Steven Davis got 1,011 votes, or 38%.

In the Position 2 spot that is being vacated by longtime Councilman Rich Buel, his former colleague Ken Stoker nabbed the seat with 1,723 votes, or 64%.

Stoker served one term on the city council from 2016 through 2019, but lost his re-election bid two years ago to Moran.

His challenger this time around, Theresa L. Morrell, came in with 965 votes, or 36%.

Councilman Richard Bloom did not draw a challenger for Position 4. He got 2,073 votes.

While Moran was unsuccessful in her bid for mayor, she will remain on the council in Position 7 through 2023.

Tuesday night’s results from the Benton County Auditor’s Office are based on 28,662 ballots received before 5 p.m. Monday.

Of those returns, 454 are being challenged because either the voter failed to sign the return envelope or their signature does not match what the office has on file from when the voter registered.

Voters whose ballots are being challenged will be notified by phone and mail, and has until 4:30 p.m. to take corrective action. After that, the ballots will be forwarded to the county’s Canvassing Board for final review.

The Auditor’s Office will update the election results at noon Wednesday with ballots that were received in ballot drop boxes and mail that was postmarked by Nov. 2.

The office projects having 10,000 more ballots countywide left to count, with the election to be certified on Nov. 23.

This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 10:03 PM.