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The atmosphere inside Washougal mayoral candidate Molly Coston’s election night party at 54° 40’ Brewing Company Tuesday night was optimistic and bouyant. When the first preliminary results came in, that optimism turned to shouts of joy, as Coston’s supporters rushed to hug her and congratulate her on her lead over opponent Dan Coursey.
Others in the room also had smiles on their faces — Port of Camas-Washougal commissioners John Spencer and Larry Keister both won their respective races by rather large margins and Washougal School Board challenger Donna Sinclair, one of the only newcomers to win her election on Tuesday night, also joined in the revelry at 54° 40’ Brewing.
Although there are still more ballots to be counted, as of Wednesday morning, Coston, a former Washougal City Council member, was leading current Washougal Councilman Dan Coursey 54 to 42 percent — with write-in candidate Paul Godin garnering 3.48 percent of the vote — in the closely followed Washougal mayoral race.
“It’s still pretty close,” Coston said Tuesday night. “(But) I think the gap is a big one. I feel like I’ll secure the mayor’s position. That may change in a day or two as things come in.”
The factors that contributed to her campaign’s apparent success, according to Coston, included her neighbors and friends talking to others about her. She also attributed her depth of experience in the community and time spent as a volunteer as contributors to an apparent successful campaign.
There were approximately 50 people, including candidates in other races, at 54°40’ Brewing Tuesday night. Coston distributed kazoos to the crowd and they played “Happy Days are here again.”
“It made people laugh,” Coston said. “It was kind of a silly thing to do.”
Coursey gathered with about 50 friends and supporters at a meeting room in the Best Western Plus Parkersville Inn & Suites, Tuesday night.
Coursey described the Washougal mayoral race as highly contentious all along.
“She has a lot of well known people working for her,” he said, regarding Coston. “It was expected to be a challenge.”
He said his supporters called online posts by Washougal City Council members Brent Boger, Joyce Lindsay and Paul Greenlee about Coursey as “character assassination.”
“There have been times I wanted to say something, but I did not want to go the negative route, and I didn’t.”
On Tuesday night, Coursey said he was “just going to sit tight and wait.”
He referred to the saying, “You really find out who your friends are when you run for office.”
“I’m very appreciative of all the people who helped me along the way,” Coursey said.
Following are preliminary election results from other Camas-Washougal area races:
