Election night on May 20 was a busy one in Columbia County.

With two major levies on the ballot and a hotly contested school board race in St. Helens, the dust has now settled, according to preliminary election results released Thursday evening, May 22.

St. Helens school board

There are going to be a few new faces on the St. Helens school board.

St. Helens voted on three new board members to serve in Positions 1, 3 and 4. Positions 1 and 4 were occupied by outgoing board members Kellie Jo Smith and Trinity Monahan, who did not run for reelection. Position 3 was occupied by board Chair Mathieu Douglass, who ran for the Position 1 seat.

Here’s how the races are stacking up according to preliminary results Thursday evening, May 22:

In the race between incumbent board Chair Mathieu Douglass and Rochelle Russell for Position 1, Russell was pulling ahead with 62.7% of the vote as of Thursday. Douglass had 36.7% of the vote.

Candidates Byron Brown, Reni Nowling and Christine Smith-Reed faced off for the Position 3 seat. As of Thursday evening, Smith-Reed was in the lead with 41.1% of the vote. Brown followed behind with the second largest share of the vote at 38.4%, and early results put Nowling in third place with 19.7% of the vote.

Between candidates Reed Hjort and Nathan Tompkins, Hjort is in the lead with 59.7% of the vote, according to preliminary results. Tompkins followed behind with 39% of the vote.

Columbia County jail levy

Early election results show that the Columbia County jail may be safe from closure.

Columbia County voters were asked to renew the existing jail tax levy, which taxes property owners at a rate of 58 cents per $1,000 of assessed value in order to fund jail operations. Without the levy, Columbia County Sheriff Brian Pixley warned that the jail faced imminent closure.

Early results showed 63.9% of voters support the levy as of 11 p.m. May 20.

The jail tax levy was initially passed by voters in 2014, when the jail was likely to close without an additional source of funding. Voters renewed the levy in 2016 and 2020, and it is set to expire June 30, leaving a nearly $3.5 million gap in funding.

Voters recently shot down attempts to raise the tax by 29 cents in May 2024 and 21 cents in November in order to keep up with increasing operational costs, leading the Columbia County Sheriff’s office to ask for another renewal instead.

Scappoose fire levy

Preliminary election results are in, and voters have approved the continuation of the Scappoose fire levy.

Voters in the Scappoose Fire District’s service area — which covers Scappoose, Chapman, Holbrook and portions of Warren — were asked to renew a five-year property tax levy at the existing rate of $1.99 per $1,000 of assessed value.

According to preliminary results as of May 22, 76% of voters support renewing the levy.

The levy makes up more than half of the fire district’s resources, funding staffing, vehicle maintenance, outreach and education programs, facility improvements and more.

Scappoose school board

Scappoose voters will see some familiar faces on the local school board this summer, despite the May election.

On Tuesday, May 20, Summer Stutsman-Hoag, Phil Lager and Gwynn Klobes retained their seats.

There were three openings on the Scappoose school board this election, with each with incumbent candidates running unopposed.

Stutsman-Hoag was first elected in 2021. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Linfield University and has worked as a pediatric intensive care nurse for more than two decades.

Lager was first elected in 2009 and has served consecutive four-year terms on the board since. He has also served on the school district’s budget committee.

First elected in 2021, Klobes is retired and brings her experience of directing a personal and professional development program at the University of Portland, where she also earned a master’s degree in business and a bachelor’s degree in theology after graduating from Scappoose High School.

The seven-member school board helps oversee the district from a bird’s eye perspective, setting budgets, creating policies and making choices about how Scappoose schools operate. The board is also responsible for hiring and managing the superintendent.

Board positions are nonpartisan and correspond to zones — geographic divisions in Scappoose — with one board member residing in each zone. However, board members are elected at-large and represent the entire district for a term of four years once elected.