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Medford voters were well on their way to extending the lifetime winless election streak to 11 for foul-mouthed tax-cheat Curt Ankerberg in Ward 1 of the City Council, while nearly unseating incumbent Clay Bearnson in Ward 2. Vote tallies late Tuesday for northeast Medford’s Ward 1 show 2,319 votes, or 37.5 percent, for Alex Poythress, a 29-year-old small-business owner who is on Medford’s planning and parking commissions. “Based on what I’ve heard from different people who’ve run before, I don’t see the results changing,” Poythress said tonight from inside the Jackson County Republican Party festivities at the Rogue Valley Country Club. Ankerberg has used the words “pig,” “hog,” a**hole,” and “whore” to describe his opponents on social media and email attacks and is a CPA hit in U.S. Tax Court this year for filing three years of fraudulent tax returns. He is running third out of four candidates in the ward with 1,626 votes, or 26.29 percent of early returns. Coming in second so far is Steve Dickson, who sits on various city committees, including the Medford Budget Committee, and works in human resources for Veterans Affairs. He garnered 29 percent, or 1,795 votes. In fourth was David Dobrin, whose name was on the ballot but he did not file information for the Jackson County Voters’ Pamphlet. He received 393 votes, or 6.35 percent. Fifty-two write-in votes were logged among the returns. Political observers had feared that Ankerberg’s name familiarity in the four-candidate race could lead to victory. He came just 500 votes short in the Oregon Senate District 3 Republican primary in May won by Jessica Gomez, who Ankerberg called “a whore of PACS” and a “lying piece of crap” in a comment on a local political commentator’s blog. Poythress credited a wide-ranging campaign strategy heavy on neighborhood canvassing by himself and a slew of volunteers, Facebook ads and lawn signs as well as endorsements from the Mail Tribune and the Jackson County Republican Party for the nonpartisan seat. “It was a multi-faceted campaign, a real collaborative effort,” Poythress said. “And I had a great mentor in Kim Wallan.” Wallan is a current city councilor and a Republican candidate who won the representative race for Oregon’s 6th District. Though the Ward 1 race has garnered the most interest, it is not the closest race among the four Medford City Council races tonight as three other incumbents were ahead in their re-election efforts — and one by just a hair. Downtown bar and cannabis retail store owner Clay Bearnson was narrowly ahead of challenger James Herndon in Ward 2 by 18 votes. Returns have Bearnson with 2,792 votes, or 49.9 percent. Herndon received 2,774 votes, or 49.58 percent, in the second ballot run. Ward 3 incumbent Kevin Stine, a Veteran Resource Center specialist at Rogue Community College, was leading his re-election bid with 1,898 votes, or 41.45 percent, over challengers Don Libby and Glenda Wilson. Libby has 1,395 votes, or 30.5 percent, while Wilson has 1,260 votes, or 27.5 percent. Stine said his public activity and name recognition helped position him in this race and that candidates trying to knock off an incumbent usually need a strong message. “I didn’t see from any of my opponents why I shouldn’t keep going,” Stine said. “The good people of Ward 3 think I’m doing a good enough job to keep going for a few years.” Michael Zarosinski, a civil engineer, is leading comfortably in his bid to retain his Ward 4 council seat with 5,344 votes, or 72.4 percent. He is being challenged by Lewis Severson, who has 2,011 votes, or 27.2 percent. Zarosinski said he was grateful for the support he saw tonight at the polls. “I’ll spend the next four years trying to good, solid decisions and live up to that support,” Zarosinski said. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman.