Election night results show Josh Collette taking a wide lead over John Heater in the race for mayor of Elma. With nearly 360 votes counted, Collette has about 75% of the vote and 178 more votes than Heater.

“I’m humbled with the amount of support I got during the election,” Collette said in an interview Wednesday. “I thank my opponent for choosing to run, stepping up looking to serve the community, and I look forward to continuing working with him.”

Both candidates are current city council members, and since his seat isn’t on the ballot, Heater will remain on the council should he fail to close the gap in further ballot counts.

Heater did not respond to The Daily World’s request for comment.

In the race for Elma City Council Position 4, incumbent Mike Cooper leads Shane Jhanson with 58.6% of the vote to Jhanson’s 39.9%, a proportion constituting a 61-vote gap.

“I never am ready to declare victory until they count that second round of ballots, but I feel really encouraged about the outcome of the first night recognizing that the late voters’ votes haven’t been counted yet,” Cooper said in an interview Wednesday. “I’m really enthusiastic and looking forward to serving another term.”

Jhanson, who did not provide contact information through the Grays Harbor County Auditor’s Office, could not be contacted for comment on this story.

Jacob Borden and Ron Woodman are slightly closer in the race for position 5 on the Elma City Council, with Borden holding 52.7% of the vote and Woodman garnering 46.8%, and an 18-vote margin separating the two.

“Overall, I am of course happy with the results so far,” Borden said in an email on Wednesday. “This is a close race but being ahead in the initial count is promising. Still a lot of votes to be counted so we will see how the coming days play out. At the end of the day, I am happy and honored to have received support from so many in my community.”

Woodman did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily World by press time Wednesday.