Buys and Van Werven will face democrats in November

By Oliver Lazenby

After an initial count on Tuesday night, Whatcom County incumbents Luanne Van Werven, R-Lynden, and Vincent Buys, R-Lynden, had big leads in their races for state representative in the 42nd Legislative District. The district covers most of Whatcom County except for south Bellingham.

Van Werven and Buys each faced three challengers in their races for positions 1 and 2, respectively. The top two candidates in each race will advance to the November election.

For position 1, Van Werven led with 51 percent of the vote and will face Democrat Sharlaine LaClair, who had 41 percent of the vote. Independent Doug Karlberg had nearly 5 percent of the vote and Blaine libertarian Jacob Lamont had 3 percent.

Buys led the race for position 2 with 53.5 percent of the vote. He’ll face Democrat Tracy Atwood, who trailed with 35 percent. Dale Dickson, an independent, had 9.5 percent of the vote and libertarian Jerry Burns received 1.8 percent.

For updated ballot counts go to the county auditor’s website: bit.ly/2av2YvX. County auditors will certify official results on August 16.