As of 4:51 p.m. today, the latest Pierce County ballot count is in. More than 53 percent of county mail-in ballots—a total of 236,418 out of more than 440,000 registered voters—have been counted. Counts below represent Pierce County ballots and don’t necessarily reflect state results. County results are subject to change as more ballots are tallied. The election will be certified on Nov. 27.

Elected officials

In the 31st District state House races, Republican incumbent Cathy Dahlquist is ahead of Democratic challenger Brian Gunn with a 63 percent share of Pierce ballots counted so far. Independent Democratic incumbent Christopher Hurst leads Republican challenger Lisa Connors with a 54.1 percent share of counted votes.

Both elections also required votes out of King County, which can be found here.

For County Executive, Democratic incumbent Pat McCarthy leads nonpartisan challenger Bruce Minker with a 64.53 percent share.

At the state level, Maria Cantwell holds a 59.28 percent lead in the race for U.S. Senator.

In the gubernatorial race, Pierce voters favor Republican Rob McKenna over Democrat Jay Inslee. McKenna holds a tight 51.4 percent lead.

If the County percentages hold statewide, the executive office will be split by party, as Democrat Brad Owen holds a 55.51 percent lead over Republican Bill Finkbeiner.

Republican Kim Wyman holds a 52.57 percent lead over Democrat Kathleen Drew in the Secretary of State race.

In the State Treasurer race, Jim McIntire holds a 56.73 percent lead over Sharon Hanek.

For State Auditor, Troy Kelley holds a 51.55 percent lead over James Watkins.

For Attorney General, Bob Ferguson leads Reagan Dunn with a 51.15 percent share.

In the U.S. Presidential race, which was called in favor of the incumbent Obama/Biden ticket last night, Pierce County so far favors the President with a 53.91 percent share of votes counted. Republican challengers Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have taken a 44.09 percent share of votes. The most-favored third party ticket were Libertarian Party nominees Gary Johnson and James P. Gray.

Measures

Pierce Proposed Charter Amendment No. 40, requiring a two-thirds vote of the council to levy or increase a new councilmanic tax, has so far been approved with a 67.2 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, is passing in Pierce County with 55.4 percent of the vote. The initiative is passing by a slimmer 51.26 percent margin statewide.

Initiative 502, concerning marijuana, is passing with 53.81 percent of the county vote, just slightly behind the 55.31 percent share of state votes counted. 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.  The initiative will be rolled out in parts. On Dec. 6, possession of up to an ounce of marijuana will be decriminalized, and the DUI-D enforcement provisions will go into effect. Representatives of the state Liquor Board released a statement today saying it plans to take the full year allowed to roll out a plan for consumer sales and grower licensing.

Pierce County voters so far disagrees with the state on Referendum 74, the measure allowing same-sex marriage. County voters reject the measure with a 51.64 percent share. State votes currently show 51.67 percent approval of the measure.