Luzzo Gilmour has slim lead for Richland council seat

Dori Luzzo Gilmour has a 31-vote lead over an opponent who no longer lives in the state.

Luzzo Gilmour, a stay-at-home mother and former wine tasting room manager, has 2,761 votes, 50.3 percent. Former councilman Greg Jones, who resigned in August to take a job in Los Alamos, N.M., has 2,730 votes, 49.7 percent.

The Benton County Auditor’s Office estimated about 15,000 votes remaining to be counted, though only a portion of those are in Richland. The next votes are scheduled to be released at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

It would be up to the council to pick a council member to serve the next two years should Jones overtake Luzzo Gilmour. Council members unanimously picked former Councilman Ed Revell over Luzzo Gilmour and six others to fill Jones’ position until the end of the year.

Luzzo Gilmour felt good about it not coming to that, though she was disappointed with voter turnout.

“All I can say is I did everything I could do,” she said. “I ran the best race I could run. I hope the voters were informed.”

Councilman Terry Christensen, meanwhile, appears headed to a second term on the council. The retired Pacific Northwest National Laboratory worker has 3,790 votes, 69 percent, to 1,741 votes, 31 percent, for Donnie Landsman, a compliance officer with Hanford subcontractor Energy Solutions.

“I think this means that people recognize people who work hard in the community,” Christensen said. “They know who I am and acknowledge my years of service to the city of Richland.”

Luzzo Gilmour would likely get only a two-year term if she hangs on to her lead over Jones, because she would have the fewest number of votes of any winning candidate. Unopposed candidates Phillip Lemley and Brad Anderson each have more than 4,000 votes in their reelection campaigns and will get four-year terms.

Should Luzzo Gilmour lose, Christensen would likely end up with the two-year term.

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 10:46 PM with the headline "Luzzo Gilmour has slim lead for Richland council seat."