QUILCENE — Mark Apeland, a political newcomer and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office sergeant, was leading incumbent Quilcene School Board member Shona Davis on Tuesday night in the first count of general election ballots.
Apeland, 50, had 292 votes, 61.60 percent, to 181 votes, 38.19 percent, for Davis for the four-year Position 1 seat.
Davis, 51, is office manager for Davis Masonry.
In the other contested nonpartisan Quilcene School Board contest, Viviann Kuehl, a preschool teacher and writer, was defeating Bonnie Hitt.
Kuehl, who served on the School Board from 1992-2003, had 282 votes, 58.51 percent, to Hitt’s 200 votes, 41.49 percent, in the race for the four-year Position 3 seat.
In an uncontested race for the at-large Position 4 seat, Gena D. Lont had 368 votes.
Board members are eligible for $50 a day for attending School Board meetings and performing other services on behalf of the school district, not to exceed $4,800 annually.
The School Board approves a general fund budget that is $5.5 million for the 2015-2016 school year.
The district has 48 full-time equivalent employees.
The school district had 1,296 voters as of Sept. 23.
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office counted 10,148 ballots on Tuesday night for a voter turnout of 44.17 percent, said Betty Johnson, elections coordinator.
The next count will be at about noon Friday, she said.
