A Whatcom County state Senate primary race is heading into a hand recount after just four votes separated two Democratic candidates for second place on the November ballot. Michael Shepard leads Eamonn Collins 13,125 to 13,121 in the 42nd Legislative District following Monday's review of challenged ballots, and the results are set to be officially certified Tuesday, August 18, before a recount begins.
The Numbers Behind the Recount
Nearly 50,000 ballots have been counted in total in the 42nd District primary. Republican Erika Creydt led the field with 44.6 percent of the vote, automatically advancing to the November general election under Washington's top-two primary system. The two Democrats, Shepard and Collins, have been separated by margins in the single digits or low double digits throughout the ballot counting process. At one point, Collins was just two votes behind Shepard. Going into Monday's canvassing session, Shepard had climbed to 20 votes ahead. After the canvassing board reviewed the challenged ballots Monday, with about 125 additional votes tallied that day, Shepard's lead settled at four votes: 13,125 to 13,121.
Washington State law requires an automatic hand recount when two candidates are separated by fewer than 150 votes and less than 0.25 percent of total ballots cast. Both conditions are clearly met here, with four votes representing a margin of roughly 0.008 percent of the nearly 50,000 ballots counted. A machine recount is triggered at a different threshold, under 0.5 percent and fewer than 2,000 votes, but the margin here is narrow enough to go directly to a full hand count without an intermediate machine recount step.
Who the Candidates Are
Michael Shepard is a Bellingham Port Commissioner and an anthropology instructor at Western Washington University. He was endorsed by outgoing Sen. Sharon Shewmake, the Bellingham Democrat who chose not to seek reelection after holding the seat. Shewmake's endorsement placed Shepard in what observers have characterized as the establishment lane of the Democratic primary, drawing on institutional party support and relationships built through his work on the port commission. Shepard has raised approximately $105,000 for the race.
Eamonn Collins teaches science at the Lummi Nation School and describes himself as a grassroots progressive running to the left of Shepard's more establishment-oriented campaign. He is also a former U.S. Senate policy adviser, giving him a policy background that complements his community-rooted campaign identity. Collins entered the race with a smaller fundraising base, having raised about $75,000, but built enough of a coalition to stay within a handful of votes of his opponent through a weeks-long counting process that saw the margin swing repeatedly in both directions.
The 42nd Legislative District covers north Bellingham and rural Whatcom County, including Ferndale, Lynden, and Blaine. The district has shifted toward Democrats in recent election cycles after being represented by a Republican state senator as recently as 2022, a shift that reflects broader demographic and political changes in the northern part of the county.
Creydt, the only Republican in the race, leads fundraising with $199,000 raised, nearly all of which she has spent. Despite the financial advantage, the combined Democratic total of nearly 53 percent of primary votes paints a challenging picture for Republicans in November. Creydt is a psychologist and a member of the Blaine school board who has been an active presence in local Republican politics.
How the Recount Works
The Whatcom County Auditor's Office will oversee the recount process. Auditor Stacy Henthorn said the hand recount is expected to take approximately three days, with additional time needed for the canvassing board to certify the final results afterward. The county election office planned to post further details about the recount process online Tuesday afternoon.
Hand recounts involve physically pulling every ballot and counting the relevant race by hand, typically with bipartisan teams of observers reviewing each ballot and flagging any ambiguous marks for canvassing board review. Ballots with torn or smeared marks, unusual pen strokes, or votes that fall outside the designated bubble are set aside and reviewed individually before a determination is made. The process is methodical and time-consuming by design, intended to produce a definitive count that all parties can examine and trust rather than a rapid result that leaves room for dispute.
Recounts in Washington rarely reverse election outcomes, but in races separated by fewer than ten votes, any category of ballot that was previously treated one way might be treated differently under the closer scrutiny of a hand review, and even a handful of changed determinations could shift the result. Both campaigns reportedly reached out to voters whose ballots were challenged for signature issues, encouraging them to cure those challenges before the 4:30 p.m. Monday deadline. Challenged ballots are those that were unsigned or whose signatures did not match the voter's registration file. Cured ballots that were accepted added to the final tally that left Shepard ahead by four.
What Comes Next
After the hand recount is completed and the canvassing board certifies the results, the Secretary of State's office is expected to certify them by Friday. The candidate who finishes second in the final certified results will join Creydt on the November ballot, setting up a general election contest in a district that has trended Democratic but has not yet produced a sustained Democratic hold on the Senate seat. Senate terms last four years, making this seat a meaningful prize in the long-term composition of the Washington State Senate.
Whatcom County voters interested in following the recount process can observe it in person at the county election office. The county election office at 311 Grand Avenue in Bellingham is where ballot processing and canvassing operations take place. Observer resources and guidelines are posted at whatcomcounty.us/3747/Observer-Resources.
For background on how this primary race developed and how the 42nd District has shifted politically over recent years, earlier coverage tracked the primary results from election night through the initial canvassing period.
