Haffner draws challenger in Clallam PUD race
By Brian Gawley and Jim Casey, Peninsula Daily News
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But no other new candidates emerged as having had paperwork entered by the Clallam County Auditor's Office as the final day of filing closed for the Aug. 19 primary election.
Ballots for the all-mail top-two primary election will be mailed to overseas and military voters July 20, and to local addresses Aug. 1.
They must be returned by Aug. 19.
La Rosa works in the Sequim maintenance shop of the Clallam County Roads Department. He could not be reached for comment on Friday or Saturday.
Haffner, 60, works as an attorney in private practice.
He has served 14 years on the board, winning his second six-year term in 2002 by defeating Bill Roberds, president of Capacity Provisioning Inc.
Clallam PUD is governed by a three-person board of directors elected to six-year terms.
It has 130 employees that work in offices and shops in Sequim, Carlsborg, Port Angeles, Forks and Clallam Bay/Sekiu.
It serves about 28,500 electricity customers in Sequim, Forks and the unincorporated areas of Clallam County plus the Port Townsend Paper Corp. mill.
It also operates nine water systems that serve about 4,200 customers throughout the county: Fairview, Gales, Mount Angeles, Monroe, Carlsborg, Clallam, Panoramic, Evergreen and Island View.
The district also built a 24-mile fiber optic loop between Port Angeles and Sequim and operates a small sewer department with a 2008 budget of $26,120.
Other races
In other Clallam County races, the field remained the same after the end of the filing period in the races for county commissioner and the three Superior Court Judge positions.
County Commissioner Mike Chapman — who is seeking his third term — has filed for re-election as an independent.
Chapman had run as a Republican in his initial election in 2000 and in his re-election four years ago.
But on Feb. 19 he was barred from identifying himself with the Clallam County GOP for two years for endorsing his Democratic colleague, Steve Tharinger of Dungeness, and contributing $10 to his campaign.
Chapman will face Port Angeles attorney David R. Fox, who filed as a Democrat, and Terry Roth, who filed as a Republican.
All three will appear on the ballot voters in county commissioner District 2 will receive for the Aug. 19 primary election.
The top two vote getters will advance to the general election — and run countywide — that will end Nov. 4.
In the judge races, all three incumbents — George Wood, Ken Williams and Brooke Taylor — are running unopposed.
Legislative races
The 24th Legislative District will have races for the two Representatives positions but not Hoquiam Democrat Jim Hargrove's Senate seat.
Robert Randall "Randy" Dutton, a retired naval officer who lives near Montesano, filed Thursday with the Clallam County Auditor's Office.
He is challenging House Majority Leader Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, for her Position 2 seat in the state House of Representatives. She filed on Monday.
Kessler, along with Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, and Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, represent the 24th District.
It includes Clallam and Jefferson counties and one third of Grays Harbor County, which includes Hoquiam, but not Aberdeen.
Kessler will seek her ninth term in the House, although this is her first opponent since Teri Schwiethale of Port Angeles unsuccessfully ran against her in 2000.
In the Position 1 race, Van De Wege is being challenged by Joyce Republican Thomas Thomas, owner of Strait Broadband.
Thomas Thomas filed on Wednesday and Van De Wege filed Monday.
The 39-year-old Thomas, who describes himself as a moderate Republican, moved to the North Olympic Peninsula from Dallas-Fort Worth in 2002.
Van De Wege, a 33-year-old Sequim firefighter and paramedic, is seeking his second term after winning the Position 1 seat in the 2006 election.
Over in the state Senate, no one has either publicly announced nor officially filed against Hargrove, who is seeking a fifth term.
He first won election to the House in November 1984, then ran successfully for the Senate in November 1992.
6th Congressional District
In the 6th Congressional District race, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, will face three opponents, including one from his own party, as he seeks a 17th term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Dicks' 6th District includes Clallam, Jefferson and Grays Harbor counties, most of the Kitsap Peninsula and most of the city of Tacoma.
Gig Harbor attorney Doug Cloud — who also ran in 2004 and 2006 — filed Monday as a Republican to challenge Dicks.
Then Port Townsend Democrat Paul Richmond, an attorney and media producer, and Green Party candidate Gary Murrell of Hoqiuam filed Wednesday to run against the longtime congressman.
Top two primary
Under the state's newly reinstated "top two" primary system, if more than two candidates vie for the same office, the two top two vote-getters in the Aug. 19 primary election will advance to the election that will end Nov. 4 — regardless of political party and even if one wins more than 50 percent of the vote.
Washington state voters approved the top-two primary in 2004, but political parties tied it up in court until March 18.
That's when the state Supreme Court put it back into effect.
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at 360-417-3532 or brian.gawley@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Jim Casey can be reached at 360-417-3538 or at jim.casey@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: June 07. 2008 9:00PM