Vote tally shows loyalty to Johnson outside city

It was close in the city, but the marquee 14th District state House race was no contest in the suburbs and rural areas of north Yakima County.

Democrat Vickie Ybarra beat Republican Norm Johnson in the city of Yakima and she swept Union Gap's three voting precincts. But Johnson was the overwhelming favorite outside Yakima city limits, taking 29 of 29 precincts in unincorporated parts of the 14th District. And that ended up deciding the race, which Johnson won 53 percent to 47 percent.

The precinct results didn't surprise Johnson, who suspected he would do particularly well among business owners living in West Valley and in rural agriculture-based communities. Although he's an at-large member of the Yakima City Council, which means he has won a citywide election before, Johnson knew the city would be his weak spot.

"I would have been a fool to think I could have carried everything in Yakima," the 70-year-old retired educator said.

He figured Ybarra would fare well in the city, but that he would pull more votes in suburban and rural areas of the 14th District. The district encompasses Union Gap and Yakima and runs north through Selah, Tieton and Naches.

The urban-rural political dichotomy here is not unique, said Yakima County Republican Party chairman Jim Keightley.

"You can almost draw a parallel between that and what we see generally on the state and national levels -- that Democrats tend to live in the more urban area and Republicans, conservatives, tend to live in more rural areas," Keightley said.

Indeed, Ybarra, president of the Yakima School Board, had no trouble sewing up the four precincts that make up Yakima's eastern border, where voters have traditionally supported Democrats. Those same four precincts voted for 14th District state House Democratic candidates Don Hinman and Ron Bonlender in 2006 and they backed Democrat Chris Ramirez this year in the other 14th District state House race, against incumbent Republican Charles Ross.

None of those Democrats had nearly the financial support and campaign organization of Ybarra. Nor did they come as close to winning as she did. But it was no surprise that those areas of the district supported her; they are established Democratic precincts.

What distinguished Ybarra from other Democrats running for the Legislature is that she also won farther west -- not losing a single precinct all the way west to 40th Avenue. The 48-year-old credited that showing to her leadership on the Yakima School Board, saying it was more difficult campaigning outside the school district where people didn't already know her.

"What winning the city of Yakima shows me is that I've got a lot to build on," Ybarra said, hinting at a potential run in the future.

Johnson is unconcerned about finishing second in Yakima, attributing Ybarra's success there to her unprecedented fundraising. Ybarra raised $199,444 while Johnson raised $92,906.

"When you infuse a quarter-million dollars into a campaign that's going to draw some votes," he said.

Ultimately, however, it did not draw enough for Ybarra. The precincts she won in Yakima and Union Gap had higher voter turnout rates than they did in the August primary and the 2006 races, but they still had lower turnout rates than the precincts Johnson won.

This despite targeted get-out-the-vote efforts by Ybarra's campaign and by the Democratic Party-funded Latino Vote Project. Those efforts appear to have helped, but participation still tended to be lower in heavily Latino, historically Democratic precincts.

"Nobody really knows why that is," Ybarra said. "Some of it is thought to be language, some of it is thought to be just general disenfranchisement."

* Pat Muir can be reached at 577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.

Voting breakdown
Trivia from the Norm Johnson-Vickie Ybarra race, based
on a review of the precinct votes:

? Precincts won by Johnson: 44
? Precincts won by Ybarra: 26
? Precincts tied: 2

? Yakima precincts won by Johnson: 11
? Yakima precincts won by Ybarra: 21

? Other cities’ (Selah, Union Gap, Naches and Tieton) precincts won by Johnson: 4
? Other cities’ precincts won by Ybarra: 5
? Unincorporated county precincts won by
Johnson: 29
Unincorporated county precincts won by Ybarra: 0

? Total Yakima vote for Johnson: 13,450
? Total Yakima vote for Ybarra: 14,093

? Total cities vote (including Yakima) for Johnson: 15,782
? Total cities vote (including Yakima) for Ybarra: 16,209

? Total unincorporated vote for Johnson: 7,485
? Total unincorporated vote for Ybarra: 4,100

• Source: Numbers based on vote count as of Nov. 10, from the Yakima County Auditor’s Office.

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