PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County voter turnout rose to 57.03 percent after a second count of primary election ballots on Friday that left the outcomes of the races reported Tuesday unchanged.
Attorneys Keith Harper and Peggy Ann Bierbaum will vie in the Nov. 6 general election for the Superior Court, Position 1 judgeship now held by Craddock D. Verser, who is retiring.
The November contest for Jefferson County Commissioner District 2 seat will pit incumbent David W. Sullivan, a Democrat, against Republican challenger Tim N. Thomas.
In the top-two primary, the two with the most votes are chosen to vie in the general election.
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office has counted 12,481 ballots out of 21,886 issued in the primary.
Twenty-two ballots and 60 challenged ballots remain.
No more counts of ballots are planned until the day of certification of the election Aug. 20.
The candidate percentages in local races changed only slightly.
County Auditor Patty Rosand said 21,443 of the 45,879 active registered voters who received a ballot had returned one by Friday.
In Clallam County, voter turnout was 46.7 percent after Friday’s count, with 21,443 ballots returned of the 45,879 ballots issued.
In the Superior Court judge race, Harper, 58, had 5,419 votes, or 48 percent while Bierbaum, 54, an attorney who lives in Quilcene, drew 3,773 votes, or 33.4 percent.
Port Townsend attorney Michael Haas, 50, got 2,104 votes or 18.6 percent.
In the District 2 county commissioner race Sullivan, 60, who is seeking a third four-year term, received 2,026 votes, or 52.3 percent, while Thomas, 41, a Republican, won 1.361 votes, or 35.2 percent.
Dan Youra, 67, also a Republican, got 485 votes, or 12.5 percent.
Youra and Haas were eliminated in the primary, with the others facing off in the Nov. 6 general election.
Harper, of Port Townsend, has served as a court commissioner, judge pro tem, part-time city attorney and part-time city prosecutor.
Harper and Bierbaum are sole practitioners who serve as court commissioners, or substitute judges. Haas shares a practice with attorney Sam Ramirez.
Thomas, of Irondale, is president of Bernt Ericsen Excavating Inc., of Port Townsend.
Youra is of Port Hadlock is the owner of Youra Media.
In races with only two candidates in the primary, both proceed to the November election.
Incumbent Phil Johnson,64, a Democrat, will face former Port Townsend mayor Geoff Masci, 64, a Republican, in the Jefferson County commissioner District 1 race in November.
Johnson had 2,871 votes, or 71.67 percent, on Tuesday night. Masci won 1,123 votes, or 28.03 percent.
In the gubernatorial race, Jefferson County voters followed the state trend. They gave Inslee 58.08 percent of the vote to McKenna’s 34.16.
Voters statewide voters gave Inslee more votes by a 46.3 to 43.6 percent margin.
Clallam County voters bucked the state tread by supporting Republican Rob McKenna with more votes than Democrat Jay Inslee.
Among the Clallam County electorate, McKenna edged Inslee 45.8 percent to 42.2 percent.