Commissioner Nafisa Fai has moved into the lead for Washington County Commission chair for the first time, edging ahead of fellow Commissioner Pam Treece in results released Nov. 10. The contest remains tight one week after Election Day, with just 363 votes separating the two candidates in the latest unofficial tally.
Fai now has 49.6% of the vote, compared with Treece’s 49.45%. The figures reverse the order shown in the initial Election Day returns, when Treece held 51% and Fai had 48%. Until the Nov. 10 release, none of the published results had placed Fai ahead of Treece in the race for chair.
Another close contest continues for the commission’s District 4 seat. Hillsboro City Councilor Kipperlyn Sinclair is maintaining a narrow advantage over former Hillsboro Mayor Steve Callaway. The most recent count gives Sinclair 50.7% of the vote and Callaway 48.5%, leaving both commission races closely contested as the county continues its ballot-counting process.
The county had not planned to publish another set of election results on Tuesday, Nov. 10. It added the release because of public interest in several races with close margins. That additional update provided the first reported lead for Fai, but it did not include thousands of ballots that have been challenged over signature issues.
Those challenged ballots still must go through verification before they can be counted. The county cautioned that the process can take several weeks, meaning the Tuesday figures do not account for all ballots awaiting that review. The latest totals therefore remain an unofficial update as election officials continue their work.
County elections officials have scheduled their next results release for 4 p.m. Friday. Like the Nov. 10 tally, the periodic counts released before certification are unofficial. Results are scheduled to be certified and become official on Nov. 30.
The close commission contests follow victories elsewhere in Washington County for a broad coalition of progressive candidates aligned with Fai, Sinclair and the Washington County Democratic Party. Candidates in that bloc swept Hillsboro City Council races in last week’s election and also won contests in Tigard, Forest Grove and Tualatin.
Opposition to data centers helped drive those progressive campaigns, including the bids by Fai and Sinclair. The campaigns also drew support from opposition to tax breaks that technology companies have historically used to build data centers in Washington County.
