Two-time incumbent Pete Lewis maintained a commanding lead Thursday over City Councilmember Virginia Haugen in his bid to win reelection to a third term as Auburn mayor.

In returns supplied by King County Elections at 4:19 p.m., Lewis was receiving 59.57 percent of the vote compared to Haugen’s 39.91 percent, 4,577 votes to 3,066. The numbers reflect ballots cast by 8,153 of Auburn’s 28,225 registered voters.

In the Pierce County area of Auburn, the results were more lopsided. As of 6:13 p.m. Wednesday, Lewis was receiving 71.78 percent of the vote to Haugen’s 27.57 percent, 552 votes to 212.

Lewis watched the returns Tuesday evening with supporters and his campaign committee in the second-floor meeting room at the Truitt Building on West Main Street.

“All the returns aren’t in, but if the returns hold steady what this shows is that the last of the old-time, good-ol’-boys way of doing things is done,” said Lewis. “I’ve been so delighted to be a part of the Council that came in and changed it, got rid of the backroom deals and the side stuff and brought everything out into the open.”

Lewis added that the campaign was just as rough as he knew it was going to be, given a challenger with whom he is so often at loggerheads.

“I knew early on that Virginia was going to run. I didn’t know who else, but I knew her style of running was the same as the old-style politicians who used to be around here, so I knew what I was going to face. I just wasn’t going to give into it in any way, shape or form,” Lewis said.

Neither Haugen nor her campaign manager, Mark Silberling, responded to requests for interviews Tuesday.

Lewis’ supporters, including the six members of the City Council who endorsed him, were smiling.

“I couldn’t help but worry that after years of being on the Council all that work would go down the drain,” said Auburn City Councilwoman Sue Singer, alluding to Haugen’s pledge to halt all development plans currently in the pipeline downtown.

“I think that Pete will prevail, and we’ve got nothing but positive things ahead of us for the future of the City of Auburn,” said Councilman Bill Peloza. “But hey, Virginia got 40 percent. She’s got a lot of supporters.”

“I think Pete needs the opportunity to finish up a lot of the projects that he started, and that’s the way it should be as far as I am concerned,” said former Mayor Chuck Booth.

In the race for City Council Position No. 2, John Partridge, Auburn’s former fire and police chaplain, held on to his strong lead in King County returns – 55.89 percent to incumbent Councilmember Gene Cerino’s 43.82 percent, 4,040 to 3,168 votes. In Pierce County, the results were much the same, 54.80 percent to 44.89 percent, or 365 votes for Partridge to 299 votes for Cerino.

Councilmember Nancy Backus and Rich Wagner ran unopposed.

Auburn Municipal Court Judge Patrick Burns also ran unopposed.

Proposition No. 1, the Auburn School District’s capital improvements levy, was leading 53.11 to 46.89 percent in King County and as of Wednesday morning 63.92 percent to 36.08 percent in Pierce County. The combined total in both counties was 53.93 percent in favor of the levy. Only a simple majority plus one is needed to pass the measure.

Superintendent Kip Herren monitored the returns in the school board meeting room at the district’s administration building. He said he was comfortable with the margin.

“Usually the ballots become more ‘yes’ as this goes along,” said Herren. “I think the average from first day to election certification day is a gain of about 3-percent positive votes, so I think this will end up around 56 or 57 percent. We’re very pleased. We’ve got about $12 million worth of work that we can do next year, so we’ll get busy on it.”

Herren added that conventional wisdom holds November to be a poor month to run a school election because of all the other issues on the ballot, but he said it turned out to be a good time to draw attention to the needs.

“I think people understand that there are certain things where it’s ‘pay me now or pay me later,’ ” Herren said.

Ryan Anderson, chairman of Auburn Citizens for Schools, a political action committee that advocates for school bonds and levies, described the effect of state cuts in funding for education.

“In previous years there would have been a place to draw money from if you needed to fix a boiler, but now the way the way cuts have been it’s not like there’s money sitting around. What you don’t want to have happen is for this to affect the kids,” Anderson said.

In the race for Auburn School District Board of Directors Position 5, incumbent Lisa Connors led Clarissa Ruston, 54.23 to 45.37 percent in King County and as of 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, 57.87 percent to 41.18 percent in Pierce County. Connors beat Ruston two years ago, and if the numbers hold she will win a full four-year term on the board.

School Board President Janice Nelson ran unopposed.

Updated results will be posted as soon as they become available. The King County Canvassing Board will convene to certify final election results on Tuesday Nov. 24, and the results will be posted by noon that day.