Will third time be a charm for Mielke?

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It appears Clark County Councilor Tom Mielke will run for reelection after all.

Mielke told The Reflector and Camas-Washougal Post Record that he is, indeed, running to keep his seat in District 4 for a third term, which covers rural east Clark County including the cities of Camas, Washougal and Battle Ground.

Mielke never returned my calls after Democrat Roman Battan, a Camas resident, and Republican Jennifer McDaniel, a Washougal city councilor, announced their candidacies last month.

“Normally by this time we’re up and rolling pretty good but I’m sitting in a good position,” the 73-year-old told The Reflector this week. “I don’t feel any threats.”

Mielke does have the name recognition in rural Clark County, but he hasn’t run since district boundaries were changed with the implementation of the Home Rule Charter that expanded the Clark County council to five members.

He didn’t do so hot in that district in the race for Clark County council chair, though keep in mind that it may not be fair to try to make predictions about this year’s race based on a countywide race flush with conservative candidates.

According to our data crunching, Mielke only received about 7.5 percent of the votes cast in District 4 in last August’s primary. Mielke lost to fellow Republican Councilors David Madore and Jeanne Stewart, Democratic candidate Mike Dalesandro and current Chair Marc Boldt, no party preference. Madore won in District 4 with about 31.5 percent of the votes.

It appears Mielke’s popularity may be slipping countywide, as well. Overall, Mielke received 6.35 percent of the votes for county chair.