PORT ANGELES — West End-area fire district seats were all the rage during Clallam County’s special May 30-June 1 filing period last week.
Six candidates signed up for Nov. 7 general election seats that had gone unfilled during the statutory May 15-19 filing period. All seats now have at least one candidate.
The newest filings included three Forks-area Fire District 1 candidates. according to the county elections office.
Anthony “Tony” Romberg of Beaver will join John Witherspoon and Neris Biciunas of Forks on the ballot for the District 1, Position 5 seat.
The top vote-getter will win a four-year unexpired term. Lowell McQuoid was removed from office by the district for missing too many meetings.
The winner of the seat can take office without receiving more than 50 percent of the vote, Wagner said.
Two other candidates also filed for a second Fire District 1 position that no one showed interest in during filing week.
Britni Duncan and incumbent Chet Hunt, both of Forks, filed for the six-year Position 2 seat.
Janine Ledford of Neah Bay also filed for the Cape Flattery School District director, Position 1 seat.
All but one of the candidates who filed last week did so online.
Some candidates withdrew.
Dan Nelson withdrew from the race for Sequim School District director, District 2. Brian Kuh and Jon Krishbaum will be the candidates for that position.
Military and overseas ballots for the Aug. 1 primary will be mailed June 17.
There were 745 countywide military ballots mailed for the Feb. 14 election.
“That’s the next big push, the overseas ballots, putting those together and getting them out the door,” county elections supervisor Rick Wagner said.
“It’s an election cycle, not just an election day.”
Seventy-three candidates are running for office in November, with six races on the Aug. 1 primary ballot that will narrow the field to two candidates for each position.
The lone countywide races pits incumbent Sequim-area Port of Port Angeles Commissioner Colleen McAleer against business consultant Michael Cobb.
There are two primary races for Port Angeles City Council positions 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.
Parker said candidate statements for the state voter guide were due Friday for candidates who filed May 15-19 and are due this Friday, June 9, for candidates who late-filed last week.
Wagner said those statements consist of maximum 250-word summaries of the candidates’ positions and maximum 100-word biographies that are checked only for word count and rejected if they contain obscene, profane, libellous or defamatory language.
The Peninsula Daily News will publish its free primary election voter guide before ballots are mailed July 12 to voters.
There were 50,935 voters countywide as of noon Friday, county voter registration coordinator Julie Maxion said.
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.
