The 2008 Pierce County Executive election took place on November 4, 2008, to elect the County Executive of Pierce County, Washington. Incumbent County Executive John Ladenburg was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a third consecutive term.[1] Following the adoption of ranked-choice voting by county voters in 2006,[2] county elections were conducted with ranked-choice voting in 2008.[3]
Four candidates ran to succeed Ladenburg: County Councilmen Shawn Bunney, a Republican, and Calvin Goings, a Democrat; County Auditor Pat McCarthy, a Democrat; and Tacoma City Councilman Mike Lonergan, who ran as an independent.
In the first round, Bunney placed first, winning 35 percent of the vote to McCarthy's 26 percent, Goings's 23 percent, and Lonergan's 15 percent.[4] Lonergan was eliminated after the first round, and in the second, Bunney remained in first place with 41 percent, McCarthy was in second with 27 percent, and Goings was third with 27 percent, and was eliminated. In the final round, McCarthy narrowly defeated Bunney, winning 51 percent of the vote, and became the county's first female County Executive.[5]
This was the only election for County Executive conducted with ranked-choice voting. Following its usage in the 2008 election, voters repealed it in a landslide in 2009.[2]
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