And The Winner Is...

With a now ten percentage point deferential between incumbent Mayor Cheryl Temple and challenger Kim Farnes, we are now ready to declare Cheryl Temple the winner.

After days of tabulations and calculations, Temple's has always been in the lead. Over the course of the past five days we've seen that lead grow in percentage from 2% to more than 10%, and voting disparity from a 26 vote lead to 128 vote lead.

Our work was made somewhat easier by the fact that Pierce County, now reporting 40% of the vote counted, has reported updates daily throughout the count. As of Saturday November 7th at 4:19pm, the following posted on the Pierce County Auditor's website:

Orting Mayor

Cheryl M. Temple
Votes: 722
Percent of Vote: 54.49%

Kim Farnes
Votes: 594
Percent of Vote: 44.83%

Friday Mayor Temple was beginning to feel the inertia of the tally sway her way.

"The nearly 9 percent lead as of last evening was wonderful news, and I'm very optimistic of a win." said Temple in an email to Orting News.

"One thing I've learned from the campaign is I want to hear from more of you! Orting government reflects citizens' desires, and I invite every citizen of Orting to get involved. There are so many ways-- from sending an e-mail or calling with questions or concerns, coming to a public hearing on a particular issue, to attending council or commission meetings."

"Also, I need to communicate more with citizens, plain and simple. Staff and I will be brainstorming next week to talk about ways we can better get the word out to you. Orting can only get better with citizens' involvement."

The result of that communication is partially represented at the top of this page as Orting News has requested Mayor Temple approve the following 'Sound Off Poll' for community input: "Mayor Temple is asking for your input on how she can better 'get the word out'...can you assist her?"

Again we respectfully request the community's input is presented in clear and intelligent manner as you've done in previous polls so that this channel of communication can grow, prosper and bring clarity to an eager public.

Official declaration, of course, will come from Pierce County in the coming days.