Energized Democrats in Jefferson County delivered commanding victories up and down the ticket Tuesday, with Greg Brotherton winning a landslide victory for the open seat on the Board of County Commissioners and Joe Nole unseating incumbent Sheriff Dave Stanko. 

Unofficial results from Tuesday’s election show Brotherton with 68.3% of the vote over Republican opponent Jon Cooke, who captured 31.5% of the ballots cast. Brotherton’s win means all three seats on the Board of County Commissioners will continue to be held by Democrats. 

The General Election results in the sheriff’s race paralleled those of the August primary, with Nole unseating Stanko, who was endorsed by county Republicans, by a margin of 62% to 38%. 

In the race for county prosecuting attorney, James Kennedy defeated incumbent Michael Haas by a 20-point margin, with Kennedy winning 59.3% of the vote compared with 39.9 for Haas. Both Kennedy and Haas are Democrats. 

Democrat incumbents in state House District 24 retained their seats, with Mike Chapman defeating Republican Jodi Wilke by a 17-point margin in Tuesday’s election. Steve Tharinger won his race against the GOP’s Jim McEntire by a 14-point spread. 

Gun control activists locally and statewide won a substantial victory Tuesday with I-1639 winning both in Jefferson County and across Washington. I-1639, which imposes a variety of new Second Amendment restrictions including compelling buyers of certain firearms to waive their medical privacy rights and potentially criminalizing self-defense with a firearm, was approved locally by a margin of more than 2-1, with 69% of county residents voting in favor of the restrictions and 31% voting against. The gun control initiative passed statewide by a narrower 60% – 40% margin.

Two other ballot initiatives involving taxes were decided in favor of low-tax advocates statewide. Initiative 1631, which would have imposed a carbon tax, was approved by Jefferson County residents by a 57% – 43% margin, though the initiative failed statewide by a margin of 56% – 44%. It is the second time a carbon tax plan has failed to pass in the state in recent years. Critics of the initiative warned it would lead to higher PUD bills and increased costs for gasoline. 

Another initiative which prohibits municipalities from taxing groceries, I-1634, was approved by voters statewide 55% – 45%, but was defeated In Jefferson County by an 11-point margin. 

Voter turnout in Jefferson County was brisk Tuesday, with the Auditor’s Office reporting 18,378 ballots returned, or 72.87% of registered voters, according to preliminary results. The number of votes cast in the 2018 election eclipsed vote totals for the 2017 and 2014 elections, but was shy of the 2016 presidential election, in which 21,171 people voted. 

Scott Hogenson

Scott Hogenson is a prize-winning journalist who has been a member of the academic staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he lectured in the School of Journalism and served as managing editor for the Wisconsin Public Radio News Network. Scott has also been a contributing editor for National Public Radio in Washington, D.C., a broadcast editor for United Press International, and a news director for radio stations in Virginia and Texas.