PORT ANGELES — A flurry of candidate filings Friday punctuated the end of filing week for the Nov. 7 general election, creating six Aug. 1 primary races and a countywide contest for an Sequim-area Port of Port Angeles commissioner’s seat.
Incumbent Port Commissioner Colleen McAleer gained an opponent for the general election when business consultant Michael Cobb filed Friday for the District 1 position, the only countywide race on a general election ballot that will offer 19 contested races.
If three or more candidates file for any position, the race will be on the Aug. 1 primary ballot, with the top two vote-getters going to general election.
Friday’s surge prompted two primary races for the Port Angeles City Council and one each for the Forks City Council, Sequim School Board, county Port Angeles-area Fire District 2 and county Sequim-area Fire District 3.
In all, 18 candidates filed Friday from among the 70 overall who submitted declarations of candidacy for the general election by 4:30 p.m. Friday.
“This is pretty standard for an off-year election when we have all these smaller jurisdictions with all these offices open,” county Auditor Shoona Riggs said late Friday.
Ballots for the primary will be mailed to voters July 12.
All four Port Angeles City Council seats on the seven-person board are up for election.
In the Aug. 1 primary, James “Jim” Moran, Todd Negus and Marolee Smith will face off for the Position 1 seat and incumbent Lee Whetham and challengers Mike French and Jake Oppelt will vie for the Position 2 seat.
In the general election, Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin and Artur Wojnowski will go for the Port Angeles City Council Position 3 seat while Travis Berglund and Kate Dexter will vie for Position 4.
For the Forks City Council, Joe Soha, Mike Gilstrap and William Paul will be in the primary for Position 3.
Dan Nelson, Brian Kuh and John Kirshbaum will be in the primary for the Sequim School Board District 2 director position.
A primary election for the county Fire District 2, Position 1 slot will be held among incumbent Tom Martin and challengers Allen Hunt, Nick Gear and Patricia Reifenstahl.
And Fire District 3 will see a primary election for the commissioner Position 2 seat among incumbent Steve Chinn and challengers Sean Ryan and Robert Porrazzo.
The two-person contested races that are set for the general election will include incumbent Gerald “Jerry” George against Skyler DeMatties for Forks-area Hospital District 1 commissioner, Position 5; Ken Ayers vs. Tim Fletcher for Forks mayor; and Bill Brager against Bridgette Soha for Forks City Council Position 4.
Other general election races will include Crescent School District director Position 1 incumbent Ann Chang vs. Kathy Conat and Crescent School District director Position 2’s Lee Evinger against Amanda K. Jennings.
In a Sequim School District director Position 4 race, Brandino Gibson will go against Nola Judd, while Janet Campbell will go against Joe McGimpsey in a contest for Cape Flattery School District director District 3.
Jodi Riker will go against Dustin Kraft for a Fire District 1, Position 1 seat, while incumbent Roy “Spider” Wright will go against Michael Maines Jr. for a West End-area Fire District 5, Position 1 seat.
John Lewis and Gary Fortmann both filed Friday for a Sunland Water District, Position 2 seat.
More than half the filings were submitted online via the county’s website in the first year candidates have been able to submit their declarations from the comfort of their homes.
That still created the familiar surge of late declarations, many online, from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday.
“A slew came in all at once,” Riggs said.
A special filing period will be held May 30-June 1 for two positions that did not draw any interest from prospective officeholders: a West End-area Cape Flattery School Board, District 1 director seat and a West End-area county Fire District 1, Position 2 commissioner position.
In addition, the Fire District 1, Position 5 seat held by Lowell McQuoid, whose term was to end in 2021, was added to the special filing period after the auditor’s office was notified that McQuoid had been recently removed from office due to three consecutive unexcused absences.
McQuoid’s term has been vacant as of May 14, according to a letter from district Secretary Jae McGinley announcing the vacancy.
Riggs said the auditor’s office was notified of the vacancy Thursday.
Had the auditor’s office been notified by 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Fire District 1 position would have been added to the list of openings that closed Friday, Riggs said.
The Jefferson County auditor is expected to announce the date of a three-day extended filing period on Monday for seats that drew no interest, said Elections Coordinator Betty Johnson.
Only one candidate each filed for open positions on the Sequim City Council, Port Angeles School Board, Sequim-area Clallam County Park and Recreation District 1, and Olympic Medical Center Hospital District 2.
For a complete list of candidates, go to http://tinyurl.com/PDN-Clallam2017Filings.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
