How Blaine, Birch Bay and Custer residents voted

The November 2023 election results were certified by the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office on the morning of November 28, according to county election supervisor Amy Grasher. With all ballots counted and most local races decided weeks ago, little changed with the final vote count.

The auditor’s office is reporting a voter turnout of 51.3 percent, with 82,043 ballots counted, a far cry from the 70.9 percent turnout –111,791 ballots – from the 2022 general election that featured state and federal positions on the ballot.

Blaine police chief Donnell “Tank” Tanksley won the Whatcom County Sheriff position with 52 percent of the vote (41,215), running against undersheriff Doug Chadwick who garnered 37,848 votes. However, Tanksley did not earn a majority of votes from Blaine and Birch Bay precincts, earning 2,958 local ballots compared to 3,294 for Chadwick.

County executive Satpal Sidhu handily won reelection with 57.6 percent of the vote (46,045). Republican challenger Dan Purdy earned 33,723 votes, and performed well in local precincts, winning 8 of 17 Blaine and Birch Bay precincts.

For Blaine school board elections, Erika Creydt switched from board district three to district one, unseating incumbent Kimberly Akre with 64.7 percent of the 5,939 total votes cast for the seat.

In the district three race, newcomer Cliff Freeman resoundingly defeated Jeffery D. Carrington with 62.5 percent of the 5,942 local ballots cast.

For more in-depth information on precinct results, visit bit.ly/3N41BmK.

Note: Percentages refer to the percent of the voters in each precinct received by the overall winner. For example, Donnell Tanksley won the county by 52.1 percent; in precinct 102, Tanksley received 41 percent of the votes.