PORT ANGELES — Adam Bernbaum and Matthew Roberson will face off in November for the 24th Legislative District’s state House Position 1.
The two candidates emerged from a field of five to represent Clallam, Jefferson and part of Grays Harbor counties.
In initial returns Tuesday night, Bernbaum, a Democrat, held a slight lead over Roberson, a Republican. Bernbaum had 7,469 votes, or 28.9 percent, to Roberson’s 7,025 votes, or 27.2 percent.
“I’m incredibly grateful for all of the community support, and I’m going to be watching the results come in with cautious optimism,” Bernbaum said Wednesday.
Roberson led Bernbaum in Clallam County with 3,909 votes, or 30.2 percent.
“There’s still a lot of ballots to be counted,” Roberson said. “I’m feeling good where we are. We’ll see what the ballot count looks like tonight, but I am feeling good about it.”
Bernbaum was a decisive winner in Jefferson County with 2,839 votes, or 43.5 percent of the vote.
Roberson also acknowledged a key challenge.
“Voter turnout was disappointing, but we are going to work on that on our side and see more folks voting in November,” he said. “Everyone ran a good race.”
Bernbaum expressed his gratitude regarding the primary results.
“I think all five of us ran campaigns that engaged in a substantive conversation about the issues that are important to the community,” he said. “If I advance, I’m looking forward to continuing that conversation in the general (election).”
Eric Pickens, a Democrat who serves on the Sequim School Board, was third with 4,462 votes, or 17.3 percent. Nate Tyler, D-Neah Bay, was fourth with 3,554 votes, or 13.8 percent.
JR Streifel, a Republican from Grays Harbor County, was fifth with 3,292 votes, or 12.8 percent.
“It’s not over, but it’s pretty much over for me,” Streifel said. “There’s no way I can make the top two, but I did my part.”
“I was supposed to stand for what I believe and represent people who feel the same way,” he added.
“I’m at peace. I did my best. Matt is a great guy, and he has all the tools to change the government. We’ve been looking for a red tag.”
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Reporting intern Christopher Urquia is a student at Peninsula College. He can be reached by email at christopher.urquia@peninsuladailynews.com.
Matt Roberson.
