Camas Mayoral Write-in Candidate Barry McDonnell Wins Election

According to Tuesday’s results from the Clark County Elections Office, write-in Camas Mayoral candidate Barry McDonnell has won the election with 3,545 votes, or 52.74 percent of the vote.

Camas Mayor Shannon Turk received 2,757 votes, or 41.01 percent, and Camas City Councilor, Melissa Smith, also a write-in candidate received 420 votes, or 6.25 percent.

McDonnell, who works in Loss Prevention for Sephora, announced his write-in candidacy in early October and aligned himself to the No to Prop 2 movement (pool bond) accusing the city government of not being transparent enough in the process, and not communicating well with Camas voters.

The timing of the news caught the McDonnell family by surprise, said Barry’s wife, Anastasia.

“Barry is currently on a business trip in California, and we were expecting this news on Wednesday,” said Anastasia. “He’s currently meeting with his boss, and isn’t available for an interview right now. We’ve just been immersing ourselves in everything from planning to GMA. We are thrilled! We are so excited! This is everything we hoped for! It happened in 34 days! It was incredible the response we got from the community.”

“We pushed but they responded, and that response is going to change the future of Camas, and it is thrilling to think about. The fact that we have someone new in office will be great. It will be advantageous, it will be exciting. It will be a whole new world.”

“The first thing he will do is meet with everyone, every head of every department and hear their concerns, and see what their ideas are for the future. Then he’ll sit down with the city councilors and hear their concerns. From there he will start doing round tables with community members, and that will be a lot of work. We will move forward in a positive way.”

This story will be updated.

The election will be certified on November 26, and McDonnell will be sworn in on December 2.

Photos by Nest and Love Photography.