Oliver leads in Ephrata mayor race, CBH bond rejected again

Editor’s note: the following article was revised Thursday, Nov. 6, to reflect updated results from the Grant County Elections Department

EPHRATA – Although the margin has narrowed, challenger Steve Oliver continued to lead incumbent Ephrata mayor Bruce Reim in updated tallies from Tuesday’s general election, while a $30 million bond proposal to finance improvements at Columbia Basin Hospital has been rejected a second time by voters.

Oliver, a local tattooist whose campaign focused on “fresh ideas” and needed change at city hall, was out-polling Reim by 92 votes, 673-581, in results posted Thursday morning by Grant County elections officials. Oliver led by 114 votes on Election Night.

Reim has served as Ephrata’s mayor for the past decade after 13 years as a city councilman; Oliver has no prior experience in elective office. The winner will begin a four-year term on Jan. 1.

All of Tuesday’s election results in Washington’s 39 counties must be certified by local canvassing boards on Nov. 25 and by the Secretary of State’s office by Dec. 4.

As of Thursday, the CBH hospital bond proposition continued failing with only 44.2% approval vote – 914 favoring the measure; 1,153 opposed – short of the 60% needed for passage. The percentages are similar to when the measure was initially turned down by voters in the Aug. 5 primary election.

Hospital officials were seeking a property tax increase for long-term bond funding to build a new on-site pharmacy and expand facilities for the district’s medical clinic, outpatient, and specialty care services.

Preliminary tallies in other Ephrata-based races showed:

-         Challenger Pamela McLaren leading incumbent Danny Bohnet, 1,368-486, for the commissioner No. 2 position with Grant County Hospital District No. 3, which operates Columbia Basin Hospital and its related facilities;

-         Challenger Brian Black leading incumbent Kevin Danby, 246-131, for the commissioner No. 3 seat with Grant County Fire District No. 13;

-         Tyler Chase outpolling Jordan Hansen, 977-429, for the commissioner No. 1 seat with the Ephrata Port District.

In other area mayoral races around Grant County:

-         Interim appointee Peter Sharp holds a 13-vote lead, 103-90, over a write-in challenger – presumably declared candidate and city council member Karen Woodhouse – for an unexpired two-year term as Soap Lake mayor beginning in January;

-         Quincy mayor Paul Worley is leading challenger Manny Rodriguez, 361-206;

-         Incumbent Coulee City mayor ShirleyRae Maes is lagging behind challenger Don Rushton, who maintained a 77-vote lead, 100-23.

In Soap Lake, voters are favoring Rebecca Leavell for the Position 5/at-large seat on the Soap Lake School Board. Leavell is leading opponent Mark Novik, 244-174.

Elsewhere, Grant County’s 14 cities and towns all had multiple city council positions up for election but only nine seats were contested: three in Quincy; two in both Coulee City and Electric City; and one each in Grand Coulee and Moses Lake.

Other non-partisan elective positions on various cemetery, city council, fire, hospital, port, school, and water districts had single candidates in uncontested races. In Ephrata, unopposed candidates include school board members Jim Adams, Casey Devine, and Matthew Truscott and city council members Phil Borck, Kathleen Harris, and Matt Moore, along with council newcomer James Mathis.

In the Mattawa area, a proposition to lift the property tax levy lid for Grant County Hospital District No. 5 was failing with only 26% of the vote, far short of the 60% needed for passage. The district, which operates a local medical clinic, wanted to raise the levy rate in 2026 to its maximum regular amount of 65 cents per $1,000 of assessed property valuation.

Grant County voters were overwhelmingly opposed to the lone statewide measure in Tuesday’s election, with 62% casting ballots against Senate Joint Resolution 8201. However, the resolution is receiving 56.7% approval statewide.

If passed, SJR 8201 will amend the state constitution to allow public monies dedicated to Washington’s long-term care fund to be invested in the stock market. The measure earlier received strong bipartisan support from state lawmakers, but needs simple-majority approval by voters for enactment.