SEQUIM — Incumbent James D. Barnfather clearly won a spot on the November general election ballot, and Sean Ryan will most likely be his challenger for the Position 3 seat on the Clallam County Fire District No. 3 commission.
Charles Perdomo appeared to be eliminated in Tuesday’s count of early ballots in the top-two primary.
The fire district is largely in Clallam County but extends into Jefferson County to include Gardiner.
The district has 23,173 voters registered in Clallam County and 345 in Jefferson County.
With a combined 6,463 ballots counted Tuesday, Barnfather — who is seeking a second term — won 4,029 votes, or 62.37 percent, districtwide.
Ryan had 1,382 votes, or 21.39 percent. Perdomo had 1,052 votes, or 16.24 percent.
The top two will face each other in the Nov. 5 general election for a six-year term.
In Clallam County, with 6,367 ballots counted, Barnfather won 3,950 votes, or 62.04 percent, while Ryan had 1,374 votes, or 21.58 percent, and Perdomo took 1,043 votes, or 16.38 percent of the vote.
In Jefferson County, with 96 of 331 ballots counted, Barnfather had 79 votes, or 82.29 percent, Perdomo had 9 votes, or 9.38 percent, and Ryan had 8 votes, or 8.33 percent.
Sequim-based Fire District 3 is the largest such district on the North Olympic Peninsula, covering 142 square miles, including Port Angeles east of Deer Park Road to Gardiner in Jefferson County.
The Clallam County Auditor’s Office counted 10,393 ballots Tuesday night for all the county races for a voter turnout of 25.28 percent.
Auditor Patty Rosand said she couldn’t estimate how many more ballots were outstanding. Ballots had to be postmarked by Tuesday, or placed in a dropbox by 8 p.m. Tuesday.
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office counted 5,463 ballots Tuesday night.
That represented all that had been received by mail as of Tuesday, said Betty Johnson, Jefferson County voter registration coordinator.
Ballots in drop boxes were not counted, she said. Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge expects those ballots, plus those postmarked Tuesday that arrive later this week, to number between 500 and 700. Voter turnout now stands at 36 percent.
The next Jefferson count will be at about noon Friday.
Barnfather, 62, of Sequim, is a retired 31-year veteran of the Seattle Fire Department.
Ryan, 51, of Port Angeles is the 30-year owner of America’s Elite Inc, a water restoration and moving company, and has been a volunteer firefighter for District 3 for five years.
He has never served in public office.
Perdomo, 44, of Sequim, is a retired emergency responder from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue in Florida who has never held an elected office.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
