{"id":18344,"date":"2026-05-22T19:15:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T19:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/the-voters-have-spoken-a-recap-of-may-19-columbia-county-election-results-columbia-county-spotlight\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T19:15:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T19:15:41","slug":"the-voters-have-spoken-a-recap-of-may-19-columbia-county-election-results-columbia-county-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/the-voters-have-spoken-a-recap-of-may-19-columbia-county-election-results-columbia-county-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"The voters have spoken: A recap of May 19 Columbia County election results – Columbia County Spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published 5:00 am Friday, May 22, 2026
By Kaelyn Cassidy<\/a> and Lauren Bishop<\/a><\/strong>
Columbia County was awash with election results May 19.
As the dust settles in preliminary election results, local voters made their voices loud and clear when it came to new county officials and proposed tax renewals and increases. Unofficial election results show Jerry Cole beating out incumbent Kellie Jo Smith for commissioner, while St. Helens, Columbia 911 Communications District and Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District voters turned down fee and levy asks. While still close, it appears Scappoose voters approved a new levy to support the public library district.
The current election results are unofficial as votes by mail received by Tuesday, May 26, and ballots that need cured will still be tabulated in the coming days. The election results must be certified by June 15.
Preliminary election results show Rainier Mayor Jerry Cole clinched the win for the Columbia County Board of Commissioners seat.
In the race for a four-year term in Position 2<\/a>, voters chose between Cole, incumbent Commissioner Kellie Jo Smith and planning commissioner Jonathan Barclay.
As of noon Thursday, May 21, Cole was ahead with 52.5% of the vote, followed by Smith with 34.7% of the vote and Barclay with 12.1%.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled to have earned your support,” Cole said in a social media post. “Thank you to the voters of Columbia County for your trust. Thank you to every volunteer, supporter, friend, and family member who believed in this campaign. The work starts today so we can hit the ground running. Please continue to call me with your questions and concerns. I will always do my best to be accessible, listen, and work hard for the people of this county.”
Smith, the incumbent, said that while the election results will not be certified for another few weeks, she congratulated Cole at the May 20 county commissioner meeting.
“I thank each and every one of you for your well wishes of support this week as well as your check-ins today (from all across the state),” Smith said on social media. “This is a wild but rewarding job. I am grateful for the education and experiences that it has provided me, and I am honored to continue to work for you over the next seven months.”
A total of 15,201 ballots had been counted, though not all ballots have been tabulated. Oregon law allows ballots postmarked on Election Day to be counted if received within the following week.
Early election results showed St. Helens voters opting out of an additional monthly fee to fund city services.
St. Helens voters weighed in May 19 on a proposed $24 monthly fee charged to residents’ water bills in order to boost the city’s general fund.
As of noon Thursday, 85.9% of voters were against of the fee, and 14.1% were in favor.
Facing budget constraints, St. Helens is bracing for additional cuts to city services<\/a> and aimed to use revenue from the proposed fee to minimize those reductions, city leaders have said.
Prior to the council’s passage of an ordinance that requires voter approval of new fees<\/a>, the city council would have been able to implement a new fee to support city services without the input of voters.
A total of 3,952 ballots in this race had been counted, though not all ballots have been tabulated.
Early election returns showed the Scappoose Public Library eking out a win for a new levy<\/a> to maintain services.
As of noon Thursday, 52.3% of voters supported the levy ask of 10 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. Votes tabulated after the initial 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, results widened the margin of success for the levy.
For a home with an assessed value of $277,366 — the average assessed property value in the library district — that works out to $27.74 more in property taxes given to the library district annually for the next five years.
The additional tax revenue would be in addition to the 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value that the library already collects via its permanent tax rate.
A total of 4,378 ballots had been counted, though not all ballots have been tabulated.
Election night results showed a majority of voters opposed to the Columbia 911 Communications District’s proposed property tax levy.
As of noon Thursday, 68% of voters opposed the levy compared to 32% who were in favor.
The proposed levy<\/a> would have cost property owners 29 cents per $1,000 of assessed value — an annual tax increase of $87 for a property with an assessed value of $300,000. The levy would have been in addition to the district’s permanent tax rate of 25.54 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, which costs the same property owner $76.62 annually.
The district says revenue would have been used to continue emergency response operations at their current levels, including 24-hour staffing of the dispatch center, dispatcher training and maintenance of radio and communications systems.
Voters approved a levy at the same rate in 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2019, the latter of which expired in 2024.
Since then, the emergency communications district has gone out for a levy in the May and November 2024 elections and been rejected by voters both times.
A total of 17,541 ballots in the May 19 race had been counted, though not all ballots have been tabulated.
Early election results are in, and initial tabulations show voters denying a higher tax for the Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District.
Voters in the Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District were asked to replace the department’s current property tax levy with a higher one.
According to preliminary results as of noon Thursday, 54.9% of voters oppose the new levy.
The levy would have taxed property owners<\/a> at a rate of $2.02 per $1,000 of assessed value — 78 cents more than the current levy, which was passed in May 2024<\/a> and won’t expire until the 2027-28 fiscal year.
For a home assessed at $200,000, this would result in an annual tax bill of $404 that would be used to support the fire department, which is an increase of about $156 from the current levy cost.
According to the ballot measure summary, the funds would have been used to replace an inoperable breathing apparatus refill station, make the fire chief position full time instead of part time, increase staffing during the day when volunteers are typically unavailable, increase the department’s training budget, build a training structure and enable the department to save money for the eventual replacement of vehicles.
A total of 1,260 ballots in the race had been counted, though not all ballots have been tabulated.
Senate District 16<\/strong>
Sen. Suzanne Weber was barred from running for reelection in 2026 as one of 10 Senate Republicans who participated in a walkout in the 2023 legislative session, leaving an open race for Senate District 16. Under a voter-approved 2022 law, lawmakers with 10 or more unexcused absences cannot run for reelection at the end of their term.
In a three-way race on the Republican ticket, Courtney Bangs clinched the nomination ahead of the general election with 62.4% of the vote, followed by Tripp Dietrich with 30.2% and Frank Mansfield with 6.9% in preliminary results Thursday afternoon.
“Last night, the voters of Senate District 16 made their voices heard and I am humbled by your support,” Bangs said in a social media post. “This campaign has always been about the people of this district, and I am ready to continue fighting for our families, our natural resource industries, and our communities. Thank you for your trust. On to round two!”
Meanwhile, in another three-way race for the Democratic nomination, Rachel Armitage came out in front with 85.2% of the vote, followed by Jordan Gutierrez with 8.2% of the vote and Aaron Dickie with 5.2% in unofficial election results.
“Last night’s results represent a huge vote of confidence in my campaign,” Armitage said in a social media post. “I am truly honored and humbled by the results. I am here for you, the people of Senate District 16. I have no other skin in this game. It’s your show. … If I haven’t met you yet, I look forward to it. Let’s win this and work together to make our state a better place to live, work, and play.”
Bangs and Armitage will face off in the November general election.
SD 16 represents Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook counties and portions of Washington and Multnomah counties.
House District 31<\/strong>
Rep. Darcey Edwards, the incumbent and sole Republican candidate on the ticket, earned 98.4% of the vote and will appear on the November ballot.
Meanwhile, two Democrat candidates are neck and neck in unofficial results. Tom Forest leads as of noon Thursday with 49.5% of the vote, trailed slightly by Rebecca Schaleger with 48.8% of the vote — a 42-vote difference.
HD 31 represents a majority of Columbia County as well as portions of Washington and Multnomah counties.
Editor Lauren Bishop contributed to this story.<\/em><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Published 5:00 am Friday, May 22, 2026 By Kaelyn Cassidy and Lauren Bishop Columbia County was awash with election results May 19.As the dust settles in preliminary election results, local voters made their voices loud and clear when it came to new county officials and proposed tax renewals and increases. Unofficial election results show Jerry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}