PORT ANGELES — Heather Jeffers had a 75-vote lead on incumbent Olympic Medical Center Commissioner Jean Hordyk on Tuesday night.
Jeffers had 5,374 votes to Hordyk’s 5,299 votes — a 50.35 percent to 49.65 percent edge — after the Clallam County Auditor’s Office processed the first batch of election ballots.
Jeffers, 41, is a licensed nursing home administrator at Avamere Olympic Rehabilitation of Sequim.
Hordyk, 66, is retired Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection officer and three-term OMC commissioner.
OMC commissioners serve four-year terms on a nonpartisan, seven-member board.
Hordyk and Jeffers are vying for the District No. 2, Position No. 2 commissioners’ seat.
The Clallam County Auditor’s Office on Tuesday counted 15,348 ballots, or 32.8 percent, of the 46,668 ballots mailed out Oct. 16 countywide, with about 5,000 on hand but uncounted and more expected later this week.
Auditor Patty Rosand said she expects voter turnout to exceed 50 percent by the time all ballots are in.
The next count will be by 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Incumbent OMC commissioners John Beitzel and Thomas Oblak ran unopposed.
OMC is the largest employer in Clallam County with more than 1,100 workers.
Hospital commissioners receive $114 per day of service for up to 96 days, or $10,944, and the same benefits of hospital employees.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.