Early Douglas County election results showed Erica Anderson and Ethan Spurling holding large leads in the County Commission races as votes came in on Election Day. At 8:10 p.m., Anderson was at 82% and Spurling at 92%, while Kirsten Kuhn trailed at 16% and about 8% of ballots were write-ins presumed to be for Gene Dorsey.
That same update put the transit sales tax vote at 58% yes and 41% no. The county’s live count was still moving quickly, but the margins at that hour already pointed to a strong night for Anderson and Spurling.
Gene Dorsey write-in effort
Dorsey’s name still mattered in the count because he had mounted a write-in campaign after losing to Spurling in the Democratic primary. The early tally suggested those write-in votes were present but not large enough to alter the shape of the race at 8:10 p.m.
Douglas County voters were also weighing a constitutional amendment that would make it clear that only U.S. citizens can vote in any election in the state. The first report at 7:55 p.m. favored the amendment 72% to 28%.
Douglas County amendment swing
By 8:30 p.m., the picture had flipped. Chad Lawhorn wrote that, “The No vote for the Constitutional amendment is now winning big in Douglas County.” The later tally showed 70% no and 30% yes, while the transit sales tax stood at 58% yes and 42% no.
Anderson and Spurling both continued to hold large leads in the County Commission races at 8:30 p.m. The county’s ballot count was still in progress, so the live numbers could still move, but the early margin for both candidates had already widened the race into a one-sided count.
Douglas County counting continues
The live returns also showed Democrats for statewide offices continuing to pull about 80% of the vote in Douglas County at 8:30 p.m. That puts the local count in the broader pattern of the evening, even as the county’s own amendment vote moved sharply against approval after first leaning the other way.
For readers following the County Commission races, the practical takeaway is simple: Anderson and Spurling were not just ahead, they were ahead by margins large enough to survive several reporting cycles, while the amendment vote had already changed direction once and was still being counted when the 8:30 p.m. update landed.
