Washougal councilman puts spin on primary races

Well, that didn’t take long.

Shortly after Tuesday’s primary election returns became public, Washougal councilman Jon Russell put his spin on two of his city’s council races on his Washougal Kibbutz blog.

Russell labeled fellow council members Molly Coston and Rod Morris as “extremely vulnerable” entering the Nov. 8 general election.

Coston received 40 percent of the vote in her race against two challengers. Morris received 37 percent against three opponents. Both were the top vote-getters in their respective races.

Russell was not impressed. He remarked that 60 percent of voters in each race rejected the “status quo.”

He congratulated challengers Connie Jo Freeman and Caryn Plinski for reaching the general election.

Freeman, a Russell-backed candidate, will oppose Coston after receiving 31.63 percent of the primary vote for Position No. 7 on the council.

Plinski will face Morris, a 19-year council veteran, after tallying 27.84 percent of the vote for Position No. 2.

“They will advance with great momentum into the General Election,” Russell observed.

Whether the momentum of which Russell wrote Tuesday is real or imagined won’t be known until November. In the meantime, his interest in his city’s races is unquestionable.