SEQUIM — The Sequim Aquatic and Recreation Center board likely will have a familiar look in 2010.
Incumbent Sequim Aquatic and Recreation Center Commissioners Susan Sorensen and Bob Macaulay were handily on their way to re-election Tuesday in the all-mail-ballot election after the first ballots were tallied.
Sorensen was leading Jan Richardson for the Position 1 seat by 4,469 votes to 1,776 votes, or 71.56 percent to 28.44 percent.
Macaulay was leading Noelle Levesque for the Position 2 seat by 3,972 votes to 1,795 votes, or 68.87 percent to 31.3 percent.
Board endorsement
Sorensen saw the vote for her and Macaulay as an endorsement of the existing board.
“I think the public is saying we trust you, we think you are doing the right thing, keep on doing what you are doing,” Sorensen said Tuesday night.
“Seventy-one percent is awesome, it’s quite remarkable.”
There were 45,739 ballots mailed to voters countywide for various races, with 21,068 mailed to voters in SARC’s coverage area, the boundaries of which are the same as the Sequim School District.
The county elections office counted 16,610 ballots Tuesday night from those received between Oct. 14, when they were mailed, and Monday.
On Friday, election staff will count an estimated additional 4,500 ballots that were received Tuesday.
Election Supervisor Shoona Radon and county Auditor Patty Rosand said they expect perhaps as many as another 4,000 ballots in the mail.
Sorensen, 56, is a registered nurse running for her third, four-year term as a commissioner representing county Parks and Recreation District 1, Position 1. SARC is the only facility the district operates.
Richardson, 69, is a retired construction company owner running a second time for a seat on the board. He lost to Annette Kuss in 2007.
Macaulay, 64, is a retired school administrator appointed to the Position 2 board seat on the five-person board in Aug. 2008 after Frank Figg resigned for health reasons.
Levesque, 29, is a part-time janitor.
Richardson did not return repeated calls for comment Tuesday about the election.
Levesque said she would wait until Friday before she considers conceding.
“I want to wait and see the results,” she said, attributing her poor showing to a lack of advertising and signs.
Macaulay did not return repeated calls for comment Tuesday about the election.
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Staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@ peninsuladailynews.com.