Bellevue Council Race: Stokes, Laing Nearly Tied in Latest Returns

Bellevue City Council hopeful John Stokes' lead over Aaron Laing has been diminishing in latest returns for the seat being vacated by Bellevue Councilman Grant Degginger.

Stokes, with 14,490 votes, leads Laing by 64 votes, . The percentage difference between the two is less than a quarter of a percent.

If the trend continues, the race could be headed for an automatic recount or a reversal of the results.

Election night saw the. However, the campaign for the seat being vacated by Degginger grew heated, as .

For Bellevue School Board, incumbent Betsy Johnson continues to trail challenger Steve McConnell by just under two percentage points.

Johnson, who was appointed to the board less than two years ago, . McConnell .

Recount Bound? Here are the conditions:

It is still too early to know whether any of these races are headed for an automatic recount, said King County Elections spokeswoman Kim van Ekstrom.

Mandatory machine recounts are triggered if the difference between the two candidates is fewer than 2,000 votes and the difference between the two candidates is less than half a percent, she said.

A mandatory hand recount is triggered when the difference between the two candidates is fewer than 150 votes and the difference between them is less than a quarter of a percent, she said.

However, any decision on recounts will be made after the certification of the election, which is Nov. 29, she said.

Results

-- Information from King County Elections