In a race made torturous by a new ranked-choice voting system, Democrat Pat McCarthy has edged out Republican Shawn Bunney to win election as the new Pierce County Executive.

McCarthy will be the first woman to hold a job that served as stepping stone to statewide office for former Gov. Booth Gardner and State Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland.

The 54-year-old McCarthy has served six years as county auditor, served as an administrator at the University of Washington-Tacoma, and is a former Tacoma School Board member.

The 2008 election provided the initial test of ranked voting, under which voters rank candidates by order of preference. If nobody captures 50 percent of first-place votes, the hopeful with the least votes is eliminated and second choice votes become part of the tabulating. The eliminating and allocation process continues until one candidate reaches a majority.

Bunney led all candidates by getting 35 percent of first-choice votes compared to 26.5 for McCarthy.

McCarthy won, however, largely by being the second choice of those who voted for a fellow Democrat, Calvin Goings, who finished third in the race.

The result was a 51-49 victory for McCarthy. Reacting to Bunney's defeat, some Democratic wags were joking yesterday that, "The rabbit died."

McCarthy will be Pierce County's fifth executive since the county switched over from a county commissioner form of government.

Booth Gardner, a Democrat and the first person to hold the job, was elected governor in 1984. Sutherland, a Republican, was elected State Lands Commissioner in 2000 after serving two terms as county executive (and was defeated this year seeking a third term.)

Outgoing Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg ran for attorney general in the fall campaign, but was defeated by incumbent Republican Rob McKenna.