As of 12:10 p.m. today, Pierce County completed its final tabulation of ballots in the November election, allowing them to be certified by the county auditor. The election saw a 78.89 percent turnout among registered Pierce County voters.

Elected officials

In the 31st District state House races, Republican incumbent Cathy Dahlquist defeated Democratic challenger Brian Gunn with a 62.94 percent share of Pierce ballots counted.

Independent Democratic incumbent Christopher Hurst defeated Republican challenger Lisa Connors with a 54.04 percent share of counted votes.

Both elections also required votes out of King County, which has shown percentages comparable to the Pierce results.

For County Executive, Democratic incumbent Pat McCarthy defeated nonpartisan challenger Bruce Minker with a 64.42 percent share.

At the state level, Maria Cantwell commanded a 59.76 percent lead in the race for U.S. Senator.

In the gubernatorial race, Pierce voters favored Republican Rob McKenna over Democrat Jay Inslee. McKenna held a tight 51.46 percent lead in Pierce, though statewide Jay Inslee was declared the winner Nov. 9 when McKenna conceded.

In the Lt. Governor race, Democrat Brad Owen commanded a 55.4 percent lead over Republican Bill Finkbeiner. The lead held statewide.

Republican Kim Wyman commanded a 52.69 percent lead over Democrat Kathleen Drew in the Secretary of State race.

In the State Treasurer race, Jim McIntire took a 56.93 percent lead over Sharon Hanek.

For State Auditor, Troy Kelley took a 51.9 percent lead over James Watkins.

For Attorney General, Bob Ferguson led Reagan Dunn with a 51.4 percent share.

In the U.S. Presidential race, which was called in favor of the incumbent Barack Obama/Joe Biden ticket on election night, Pierce County favored the President with a 54.37 percent share of the vote. Republican challengers Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan took a 43.3 percent share. The most-favored third party ticket were Libertarian Party nominees Gary Johnson and James P. Gray, with 1.34 percent of the vote.

Measures

Pierce Proposed Charter Amendment No. 40, requiring a two-thirds vote of the council to levy or increase a new councilmanic tax, was approved with a 67.07 percent share of the vote.

Among highly-publicized statewide measures, Pierce County voters have said “Yes” to charter schools, “Yes” to marijuana legalization and state regulation, and “No” to same-sex marriage.

Initiative Measure 1240, which would create a public charter school system, passed in Pierce County with 54.76 percent of the vote. The initiative passed by a slimmer 50.69 percent margin statewide.

Initiative 502, concerning marijuana, passed with 54.04 percent of the county vote, just slightly behind the 55.69 percent share of state votes. In brief, the initiative legalizes recreational use of marijuana for people 21 and older, gives the state a monopoly on consumer-level sale similar to the former liquor monopoly, and sets a THC blood concentration threshold for Driving Under the Influence of Drugs arrests.

Pierce County voters disagreed with the state on Referendum 74, the measure allowing same-sex marriage. County voters rejected the measure with a 50.41 percent share. Statewide votes saw 53.69 percent approval of the measure.