Amber Waldref and Jon Snyder.

November 4, 2009
Council newcomers may join McLaughlin
Waldref wins open seat; Snyder leads south race

Jonathan Brunt And Alison Boggs
Staff writers, The Spokesman-Review

Voters in two of Spokane’s three City Council districts appear to want change.

The first results of Tuesday’s election showed Jon Snyder, publisher of Out There Monthly, with a 4 point lead over incumbent Councilman Mike Allen for a position representing south Spokane.

For northeast Spokane’s open seat, Amber Waldref, the development director for the Lands Council, mounted an insurmountable lead (63% to 37%) over Mike Fagan, co-director of Voters Want More Choices, a group that works to place tax restrictions on the statewide ballot. Fagan was backed by outgoing City Councilman Al French, who will leave the council at the end of this year because of term limits.

“I want to be a presence that is thinking about the future and making decisions that will be good investments to our citizens,” Waldref said from her victory party at David’s Pizza.

Incumbent Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin won a resounding victory in her bid for re-election to her northwest Spokane seat.

McLaughlin’s dominant win over community volunteer Karen Kearney isn’t a surprise. In the August primary, she won all 43 precincts, a feat she repeated Tuesday.

“This kind of win is fantastic and humbling at the same time,” McLaughlin said.

While Snyder’s gap was sizable Tuesday night, it wasn’t big enough to ensure victory. Spokane County election officials estimated that one-third of the final tally will be counted later this week. Allen noted that conservative voters often have cast their votes late (though in the primary it was Snyder who won later counts).

“Obviously, I would have liked to be ahead, but I knew it would be close,” Allen said. “There’s still a lot of votes to be counted.”