Vote for open Richland City Council position is too close to call
Kurt Maier will face an undetermined rival for a seat on the Richland City Council in the Nov. 7 general election.
The race for the second place finisher in the Aug. 1 primary was too close to when preliminary results were released Tuesday evening.
Maier enjoyed a wide lead over Marc Newman and Kent Madsen. The three candidates are running for the Position 6 seat held by longtime council member Terry Christensen.
Christensen did not file to run for a new term. Five positions on the council are up for election this year, but only Christensen’s seat drew three candidates, necessitating a primary.
Maier received 4,686 of the 9,672 votes cast, or 48.5% of the total.
Newman received 2,447 votes or 25.3% and Madsen received 2,483 votes, or 25.7%, according to results released by the Benton County Auditor after the polls closed.
Results will be updated at 4 p.m., Aug. 2. The election will be certified on Aug. 15.
The Richland City Council is the policy-making authority for the city and oversees the city manager, who manages day-to-day operations.
The city, population 63,320, has 580 employees and a $304 million budget to provide municipal services, including law enforcement, emergency services, parks, planning, public works, utilities, the library, capital projects, street maintenance and economic development.
Maier is a computer engineer at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and previously served on the Richland Public Library Board of Trustees. His wife, Francesca, serves on the city’s planning commission.
Mark Newman is an account executive for Vehrs Distributing and owns Wine Social on The Parkway with his wife, Kaitilin.
Kent Madsen, who worked for companies such as General Electric, spent 14 years on the Richland Planning Commission.
The winner of the November election will serve either a two- or four-year term. Richland has an unusual system of setting terms that ensures at least four of seven seats are on the ballot every other year.
The candidate who wins by the smallest margin receives a two-year term. The rest receive four-year ones.
Richland council members are elected at large. Individual seats do not represent specific neighborhoods or districts within the city.
The November ballot also will feature races for Positions 1, 2, 5 and 7.
Position 1: Jhoanna Jones (incumbent) and Allison Ball
Position 2: Theresa Richardson (incumbent) and Elizabeth “Liz” Vann-Clark
Position 5: Shayne Van Dyke (appointed incumbent) and Gregery Levy
Unexpired Position 7: Ryan Whitten (appointed incumbent) and Joshua Short.
This story was originally published August 1, 2023 at 8:50 PM.