Leavenworth Mayor Race: Preliminary counts show tight contest, Council seats hang in the balance

LEAVENWORTH – The remainder of Chelan County General Election ballots are expected to be counted by 4pm today. Preliminary counts for Leavenworth Tuesday night revealed a somewhat split vote for mayor, and a fairly definitive count for City Council Members.

“I am just very grateful and thankful to be leading at this point. I am not surprised it is close,”  said Mayor Carl J. Florea, in response to Tuesday night’s results. “In order to stay a working community, one open to all income levels, it requires us making some significant changes…My opposition kept harking back to the past, but that past is gone and we have to move forward and face our current reality.”

Florea has 53.9 percent (325 votes) of the vote so far, with opponent Rich Brinkman following with 46.1 percent (278 votes).

“Obviously I would prefer to be in the lead as this election is critical to Leavenworth’s future.  I want to thank all the people who supported me in this election, and to all who voted, but I must admit that it is hard to compete with corruption and foul play.  There are still some votes left to count, but regardless of the outcome, I will continue to fight for our City’s future,” said Brinkman.

City Council seats one and four should be watched in this afternoon’s count. Travis McMaster is leading incumbent Marco Aurilio for seat one with 60.78 percent favorability (344 votes versus 222 votes). 

“I believe the incoming votes, updated [today], will reflect my team’s efforts to canvas the city leading up to Election Day. My team didn’t stop for [a] moment and I am grateful.  As seen at the Candidate Forum, Marco and I align on many issues but in the end I believe I bring a business acumen to the city and upcoming projects that will ensure projects have the communities best interest at heart and won’t end up [in increasing] taxes in [the] community,” said McMaster.

Competing for seat four are Rhona Baron, who has 58.43% favorability (336 votes) and incumbent Tibor Lak with 238 votes.

Shane Thayer will likely win the seventh seat, with 67.53 percent of the vote (389 votes) over Polly McIntyre with 186 votes. 

“I am feeling overwhelmed with gratitude for all the support the community of Leavenworth has shown me and with their votes. I am hoping the final vote count will stay the course in my favor for being elected to City Council,” said Thayer.

The Leavenworth Echo will continue to provide coverage for all election updates.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media