[CCCNFBW] Four vie to replace Kimsey as Clark County auditor

[Merribeth Greenberg]

Four vie to replace Kimsey as Clark County auditor
Office’s reporting and analysis manager faces 3 seasoned politicians
Photo of Shari Phiel
By Shari Phiel, Columbian Staff Reporter
Published: July 14, 2026, 11:00am
Updated: July 15, 2026, 7:54am
Four vie to replace Kimsey as Clark County auditor - The Columbian
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When Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey announced in January he would not be
running for reelection, bringing an end to his 27-year tenure as the
county’s chief financial executive, it opened the door to a bevy of
candidates.

Four are competing for the position in the Aug. 4 primary: state Rep.
Sharon Wylie, 77, a Democrat representing the 49th Legislative District;
former Clark County Councilor Eileen Quiring O’Brien, 78; Vancouver City
Councilor Ty Stober, 55; and Mitchell Kelly, 44, who is the reporting and
analysis manager for the Clark County Auditor’s Office.

Trust in the security and integrity of the local elections overseen by the
auditor’s office is a high priority for all four candidates.

O’Brien said she would start with an independent audit of every aspect of
an election, from signature verification and ballot collections, to how
ballots are scanned and sorted.

Mitchell Kelly
Age: 44
Residence: Hazel Dell
Occupation: Reporting and analysis manager, Clark County
Major endorsements: Clark County Councilor Sue Marshall, state Rep. Paul
Harris, Washougal City Councilor Ernie Suggs, Clark Regional Wastewater
District Commissioner Norm Harker

Eileen Quiring O’Brien
Age: 78
Residence: Vancouver
Occupation: Retired
Major endorsements: Clark County Republican Party; state Rep. John Ley;
Clark County Councilor Michelle Belkot; Battle Ground Councilors Brian
Munson, Valerie Ferrer and Aimee Vaile; La Center Councilor Myrna
Leija-Frantz; Charter Review Commissioner Liz Cline

Sharon Wylie
Age: 77
Residence: Vancouver
Occupation: Washington State Representative, 49th District
Major endorsements: None cited

 Ty Stober
Age: 55
Residence: Vancouver
Occupation: Vancouver City Councilor
Major endorsements: Camas Mayor Steve Hogan; Vancouver Public Schools board
members Kyle Sproul and Sandra Zavala-Ortega; Clark County Fire District 5
Commissioners Ron Gibson

“I would go to the council and ask if they’re possibly able to fund it,”
she said. “But if there’s private funding and there’s oversight who’s
chosen to do an independent audit, that should work as well.”

Stober said every process has room for improvement but that doesn’t mean
local elections aren’t safe and secure.

“From a physical security standpoint, we’ve got a top-notch department
going on,” he said, adding there’s always a need to be vigilant about
emerging threats. “Have we done enough? We always need to do more, but
we’ve done a pretty darn good job.”

One change he said he would have made sooner is adding security cameras in
the elections office and at ballot dropboxes. Stober also said voter
turnout in Clark County continues to underperform when compared with the
rest of the state.
“It’s long been my desire to be in a position to try and affect that, to
make change. But I also realize that this office is four different distinct
departments. It’s not just elections, it’s finance, it’s public records and
it’s also auto licensing,” he said.

Kelly said the elections office has a lot of precautions in place to ensure
elections run smoothly, such as signature verification, chain of custody
and ensuring ballots are secure.

“There’s a lot of checks and balances throughout the process to make sure
that the outcome of the election is accurate and tabulated correctly. But
there’s always room for improvement,” he said.

Identifying the public’s concerns about election security should be the
first step.

“I would reach out and nail down what people are thinking about. Every
concern needs to be addressed,” Wylie said. “We’ve got a lot of information
flowing around, a lot of opinions. I think that those opinions need to be
answered, either individually or in a more general way for the public to
build their trust.”

President Donald Trump’s efforts to limit mail-in voting would be supported
by one candidate: O’Brien. She said mail-in voting remains too popular with
voters currently, but if public opinion ever changes direction, O’Brien
said she supports a return to in-person voting.

“Thirty years ago we didn’t have vote by mail. When you don’t have vote by
mail and people are coming to the polls, you don’t have boxes to blow up
and have fires in them and you don’t lose chain of custody. Once that
ballot leaves the elections office and heads out to the addressee, you
don’t know where it is,” she said.

Wylie said mail-in voting is popular because it works. She said the issue
isn’t with counting ballots but the mail service.

“Over the last 50 years, there’s been an effort to undermine our post
office. This is part of our original Constitution for our country, to have
a postal service,” Wylie said. “We need to make sure that it’s as good as
it can be.”

For Stober, the real concern is voter turnout. In the 2025 primary
election, turnout was about 27 percent, one of the lowest turnouts in
county history. Stober said he wants to focus on ways to drive voter
turnout earlier in the election cycle.

“Part of (the challenge) is that we exist in the Portland media market
bubble. How do we break through that with a good communication strategy to
get more people engaged in the voting process?” he said.

The spread of misinformation has eroded the public’s trust in elections,
Kelly said, which isn’t likely to change with either in-person or mail-in
voting. Instead, he said the county must be more transparent and help
voters understand how elections work.

“I think it’s being more open and more transparent about all of the
processes that have been established and are being complied with and the
secure nature of every single step along the way, being available to answer
questions,” Kelly said.

With both Wylie and O’Brien in their 70s, age may be a concern for some
voters. But both candidates said they have the energy and experience to
take on the challenging role of auditor.

O’Brien said her age simply shows the experience she’s gained that is
needed to do the job.

“I should be a judge of myself, of what I can do, and I can do it,” she
said.

In her role as chair of the Clark County Council, O’Brien said she
regularly worked with the auditor’s office and other elected officials and
departments. She served on the council from January 2017 to March 2022
before resigning shortly after being reelected.

“I know how budgets work and how government budgets work, and I certainly
know that they really should work for the people. I think I will add a lot
to that office in the sense that it will be a fresh (set of) eyes,” she
said.

Wylie, who was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2011,
said picking the right candidate is not about a number but finding the
person who can hit the ground running and be a good manager.

“I’ve lived a lot of years, and I’ve seen a lot of politics. We are at a
point where we need to restore trust in our democracy. We need to make sure
our elections are secure. It’s not about tenure,” Wylie said.

Rather than age, Kelly said the most important thing is for voters to
evaluate the experience and qualifications of the person that’s running for
the office.

“Just see me as someone who’s truly nonpartisan, that has worked with many
different people across governments and citizens providing accurate and
reliable information,” he said. “I think that that’s what people should
really focus on — the qualification and the experience and the ability to
carry out the auditor’s duties.”

Stober said the county — and the auditor’s office in particular — benefited
greatly from the stability that Kimsey brought to the role. However, it’s
the candidate and their qualifications, not their age, that should be the
deciding factor.

“This is not a role that can easily be walked into and out of. Being able
to make a … multiterm commitment to the office, I think is very important
for the health of the office and the service to the people of Clark
County,” Stober said.

The top two vote-getters in the primary will advance to the Nov. 3 general
election.

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