2 new faces will be joining the Richland City Council based on initial ballot count

It was a good night for incumbents running for the Richland City Council.

In all, three out of the four sitting council members were leading in their races.

The council had five seats on the seven-person council up for grabs, with all facing challengers.

This could set the tone for a city council still struggling with questions about housing and economic development.

In the one race without an incumbent, two newcomers Chaune’ Fitzgerald and Jhoanna Jones, unseated longtime incumbent councilman and former Mayor Bob Thomspon in the August primary.

Now, Jones is leading the race to become the newest council member. She had 4,775 votes, or 52%, while Fitzgerald had 4,354 votes, or 47%.

Benton County Auditor’s Office elections officials said another round of results are expected Wednesday afternoon.

The auditor’s office expected about 10,000 votes countywide are left to be counted. It’s unknown how many will affect Richland races.

In the only race where an incumbent was losing, Theresa Richardson, the former executive director of Habitat for Humanity, was leading Councilwoman Marianne Boring.

Boring, a longtime committee member, had been appointed to replace Brad Anderson after he left. She was running to serve the remaining portion of his term.

As of Tuesday, Richardson had 5,261 votes, or 56 %, while Boring had 43% or 4,033 votes.

In the other races, Ryan Lukson is leading challenger Ginger Wireman in their race for council. He had 59% or 5,355 votes, while Wireman got 41% or 3,740 votes.

While Lukson is currently the mayor, the position is elected from the council after the new council is seated.

Incumbent Councilwoman Sandra Kent is far out ahead of challenger Larry Stanley, a tasting room manager on Red Mountain. After Tuesday, Kent had 73% or 6,543 votes, while Stanley had 27% or 2,438 votes.

Incumbent Michael Alvarez also was far ahead of his opponent Kurt Maier, a Pacific Northwest National Laboratories engineer and member of the Richland Library board. He had 71% or 6,600 votes, while his opponent had 28% with 2,637 votes.

This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 8:47 PM.