Veteran Snohomish County Council member Dave Somers, originally reluctant to challenge County Executive John Lovick, has soundly defeated Lovick in a race that featured two Democrats, thanks to the state’s top-two primary elections system. After Wednesday’s vote update by the Snohomish County auditor, Somers enjoyed a lead of 10,543 votes. Somers, 62, is a onetime fisheries biologist with the Tulalip Tribe, a conservationist who has represented a largely rural, conservative Snohomish County district. He has championed preservation of farmland in the fast-growing county, supported increased money for transit and was an outspoken booster of the Wild Sky Wilderness Area. Lovick was named in 2013 when his predecessor, Aaron Reardon, resigned
