Nicole Miller leads Garrett Cady by about 1,600 votes in the race to become Thurston County's next clerk, according to preliminary results from the Tuesday, Nov. 3, general election.
Miller, a Democrat, received 40,864 votes, or 50.72% of the total. Cady, an independent, received 39,251 votes, or 48.72%, as first reported by the Nisqually Valley News. That puts Miller ahead by 1,613 votes, a margin that could shift as ballots continue to be counted.
The results are preliminary and will be updated before the election is certified.
The winner will replace Thurston County Clerk Linda Myhre Enlow, who is set to retire at the end of 2026.
Clerk's office closure shaped the race
The contest centered on a concrete question for Thurston County residents: whether the clerk's office should fully reopen its public counters.
The Thurston County Clerk's Office absorbed a $777,478 budget reduction in the county's 2026–27 budget, according to a September Nisqually Valley News report on a candidate forum. That cut, combined with reductions from previous years, made it impossible to maintain in-person services, according to Enlow. The office closed its public counters on Jan. 21.
Services that had been available in person, including protection order applications, document filing and court document copy requests, shifted to online-only. The closure drew widespread criticism, particularly from advocates for domestic violence survivors who relied on in-person staff help to navigate complex paperwork.
The Thurston County Board of Commissioners adjusted the budget in May to fund part-time counter service. That partial reopening began Sept. 21.
Miller, whose background is in social work and child welfare, campaigned on the argument that the closure was unnecessary. She told the Nisqually Valley News on election night that keeping the office open to the public "will not be negotiable."
"I will not balance the budget on the backs of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors," Miller said. "That front desk will always be open."
Cady, a current clerk's office employee endorsed by Enlow, said at the September forum that the office had little choice after losing $777,000 and seven full-time positions. The Nisqually Valley News article did not include a response from Cady on election night.
What's next
The Thurston County Auditor's Elections Division will conduct two post-election audits. The margin will determine how many ballots are hand-checked.
A random audit is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, at the Thurston County Ballot Processing Center, 2905 29th Ave. SW in Tumwater. Officials will randomly select three precincts and one contest on the ballot, then hand-count every ballot from those precincts for that contest and compare the totals against machine results.
A second audit, the random ballot audit, is set for 9 a.m. Nov. 19. Workers will sample individual ballots from across the county. The closer the race, the more ballots are audited.
