PORT ANGELES — Incumbent Randy Johnson will likely be serving another term as Clallam County Commissioner in District 2, beating out Port Angeles Mayor Kate Dexter.
Johnson, an Independent, garnered about 55 percent of the countywide vote after initial counts Tuesday night, although there were an estimated 12,000 ballots left to count.
“I had to say, I was really pleased with the outcome,” Johnson said, noting that success wouldn’t have been possible without his campaign team’s help.
This will be Johnson’s “third and final” term, he said, and once it ends in December 2028, he plans on officially retiring.
Johnson, 81, noted that his granddaughter said, “grandpa does a lot of things really well, but he’s terrible at retirement.”
“This is definitely my last term,” he added.
Johnson said he only ran again because there were a few things he wanted to see through to completion — things like working on the housing shortage, establishing two childcare facilities, working through conversations with new companies that want to locate in the county and more.
Dexter, a Democrat who has served on the Port Angeles City Council since 2018, could not be reached for comment.
Johnson said he thought the campaign went pretty well overall, although there were probably some things that could be improved on.
“Did I get started a little bit late, knocking on doors in Sequim? Yeah. Did I not get this advertising module out on a timely basis? Probably so,” he said. “Those things just happen in a campaign.”
Johnson said that, generally speaking, the debates with Dexter were civil.
“I appreciate that a lot,” he said.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
Randy Johnson.
