Democrat Pat McCarthy beat Republican Shawn Bunney by a narrow margin to become the first woman to serve as Pierce County executive, results released Thursday show.

With nearly all of the votes counted, McCarthy beat Bunney by a margin of 51 percent to 49 percent under the county’s new ranked choice voting system.

“I’m thankful to the voters of Pierce County to have confidence in me to be the first woman county executive,” McCarthy said late Thursday. “These are challenging times. But I look forward to some exciting opportunities for us to do some good things in Pierce county.”

Meanwhile, Dale Washam – a perennial candidate and frequent critic of county government – won election as the county’s nonpartisan assessor-treasurer over five other candidates. And Republican Joyce McDonald won the race for County Council District 2 over two Democrats.

In another closely watched race, Republican challenger Randi Becker has unseated incumbent Democrat Marilyn Rasmussen in the 2nd District state senate race.
The results won’t be official until Tuesday. But Bunney called McCarthy to concede the executive’s race Thursday evening.

“I called to congratulate her on her success and to let her know I’m there to be of assistance to her in any way, because I want what’s best for the families of Pierce County,” Bunney said.

The latest results cap what is perhaps the most memorable county executive race in Pierce County history.

[More:]

The race featured four candidates – McCarthy, Bunney, Democrat Calvin Goings and independent Mike Lonergan – vying to replace County Executive John Ladenburg, who served two terms and was not eligible for re-election.

Each candidate claimed to be the best qualified to lead a county of 3,400 employees and an $852 million budget.

McCarthy, 54, touted management skills gained during six years as county auditor and in a previous stint as deputy auditor. She also cited her experience as a Tacoma School Board member and as an administrator at the University of Washington Tacoma.

During her campaign, McCarthy promised to restore good customer service to county government. She said her top priority is public safety.

In recent weeks, McCarthy took flak from other candidates on several fronts. Goings claimed she was the hand-picked candidate of the building industry, which endorsed her and spent more than $85,000 on an independent campaign to elect her.

Her dual role as candidate and as the county’s chief elections officer also caused her grief.

Her fellow candidates cried foul when McCarthy put her name on a survey mailed to voters along with ballots. They claimed it amounted to using the ballot for self-promotion.

In recent days Republican election observers have complained they haven’t been given the access they needed to ensure the vote counting was conducted properly.
McCarthy dismissed such concerns earlier this week. She said her elections manager, Lori Augino, has overseen the vote counting.

“I have bent over backwards to ensure this whole process is open and transparent,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy would be Pierce County’s fifth county executive and the first woman to hold the post.

“It’s a big deal for me,” she said. “This is a huge job.”

McCarthy will remain county auditor through December. She said her first challenge as executive will be grappling with budget problems brought on by the faltering economy.

But McCarthy said there are opportunities as well as challenges.

“Sometimes when you have fewer resources you can be more creative,” she said.
McCarthy’s win signals the end of Pierce County’s initial test of its new ranked choice voting system.

Under that system, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no one wins a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and voters’ second and even third choices come into play.

The process of eliminating candidates and redistributing votes continues until someone gets a majority of votes.

Thursday’s results showed Bunney led all candidates with 35 percent of first-choice votes, followed by McCarthy (26.5 percent), Goings (23 percent) and Lonergan (15 percent).

But with no one getting a majority of the votes, first Lonergan and then Goings were eliminated from the race for having the fewest votes. The votes of their supporters were then distributed to their second and third choices.

McCarthy benefited heavily from those second and third choices – especially from supporters of fellow Democrat Goings – and won the race.

A few more votes may arrive at her office before the election is certified Tuesday. So elections officials will run the computer software again on Monday night.

But with nearly every vote already counted, the results aren’t likely to change.