PORT TOWNSEND — John Collins will face Forrest Rambo for the Port of Port Townsend District 1 commissioner seat in the Nov. 6 general election.
Collins, 70, handily led the three-person race in Tuesday’s primary election with 1,452 votes, or 58.64 percent of the total of 2,476 votes counted in the district.
Rambo, 61, garnered 666 votes, or 26.9 percent.
Frank Benskin, 59, received 344 votes, or 13.89 percent.
“I envisioned it might be closer than this,” Collins said.
The results tallied only ballots cast on or before Tuesday, when 4,838 ballots were counted in Jefferson County races — the port race as well as a race for a fire district commission seat.
That represented 34.02 percent of the 14,223 ballots mailed out.
It was one of the lowest voter turnouts Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge has ever seen during her 12 years in office.
About 150 ballots were in hand, but not yet counted, for races in Jefferson County, Eldridge said.
Those include ballots collected from the drop box behind the county courthouse at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Those ballots, plus ballots received in the coming days with a postmark of Tuesday or before, are expected to be counted on Friday, Eldridge said.
Eldridge expects about 400 additional valid ballots to be received in the mail.
The Auditor’s Office will count additional ballots every three days if there are enough to count.
The election will be certified at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 5.
“I am looking forward to going out into the county,” said Collins, who has never held public office before.
He was the only candidate at the Auditor’s Office checking results on Tuesday night.
Collins, who celebrated his primary showing with his wife and campaign manager, Carol, at the Public House, said he believes that knocking on doors and his supporters’ phone calls to voters helped give him an edge.
Collins, who retired in 2001 as a professor of public service at Seattle University, serves on the Wooden Boat Foundation board. He co-owns the Lemon Tree Bed & Breakfast in Port Townsend with his wife.
Yard signs
Rambo said he believes that Collins was the top vote-getter largely because of name recognition he gained from yard signs, something that Rambo is opposed to in principle.
“I told him I was not doing yard signs because yard signs don’t say anything about the candidate,” said Rambo, adding he may reconsider the use of campaign signs if Collins continues using them for the Nov. 6 general election.
Rambo said he was looking forward to more election forums to discuss port issues and to continue a dialog with voters.
Rambo is the owner and operator of Stuffaway, a professional organizing services company.
Rambo was on the Port Townsend City Council from 1998 to 2000, serving as mayor from 1999 to 2000.
Benskin, who is on the Port Townsend City Council, had pulled out of the election earlier this summer, citing personal reasons, including a new job as a plans examiner with the county Department of Community Development.
Benskin re-entered the race when he learned that the primary election would cost the Port about $20,000.
If Benskin had pulled out, that would have left only two candidates and a primary would have been unnecessary, but it was too late to prevent the race from being on the primary ballot.
When he learned of the wasted money, he re-entered the race.
“I wish them the best,” Benskin said Tuesday night after the votes were in.
“They’re both good candidates.”
Benskin said he was not disappointed in the results.
“I take things as they come and we’ll go forward from here,” he said.
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Port Townsend/Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
