5 weeks and 2 recounts later, Bothell City Council race has a winner

Five weeks and two hand recounts after the election, a Bothell City Council race has a winner — Mason Thompson beat Leigh Henderson by just five votes for the Position 2 seat.

The race was the last one in King County to name a winning candidate from November’s general election. The razor-thin difference out of 11,635 total votes required two hand recounts in King and Snohomish counties because parts of the city are in both counties. King County Elections did its recount last week, and Snohomish County Elections did its recount this week.   

Both recounts, which required a 15-step process to ensure that each vote is counted correctly, showed no variances from earlier results. This means that Thompson, who had the five-ballot lead before the recount, remained the winner.

Thompson, an account manager for software company Pushpay, will take the seat now occupied by Andy Rheaume. He said he feels prepared for the position, though his last month was spent ballot chasing and ensuring he had enough people to observe the recounts.

“I worked really hard during the campaign and talked with quite a few people, so I think I have a good handle on where the city is and what people think,” he said.

Two other King County races requiring machine recounts were certified last week. Dave Rosenbaum beat Daniel Thompson by 40 votes in a Mercer Island City Council race, and Varisha Khan beat incumbent Hank Myers in the race for a seat on the Redmond City Council.