PORT TOWNSEND — Although the first ballot count showed her with a significant deficit to overcome, Jefferson County Commissioner District 3 challenger Marcia Kelbon of Quilcene was undeterred.
Tuesday’s ballot count incumbent Greg Brotherton, a Democrat, with 10,451 votes, or 68.1 percent, and Kelbon, a Republican, with 4,881 votes, or 31.81 percent.
The next ballot count will be today.
“I think I need to see the rest of the results. All the votes need to be counted and there’s still a lot of votes out there. I also wanted to say I really appreciated everyone who supported me during my campaign,” Kelbon said Wednesday afternoon.
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office shows 15,641 ballots counted with an estimated 948 remaining to be counted.
Reached Wednesday afternoon, Brotherton was grateful to the voters and anxious to continue working.
“The whole campaign team is really gratified. We are really grateful that we have been validated by the people of Jefferson County. I’m really excited to move the county forward on so many issues we have right now,” he said.
“Housing is the biggest issue,” he continued.
“We are working with the city and our partners to address workforce housing. And Caswell-Brown Village on Mill Road, we’re finishing the infrastructure so we are welcoming another 30 people. That’s an exciting development.
“And also climate change. We are addressing that with (the state Department of Natural Resources) right now,” he said.
Brotherton, 50, is seeking his second term on the commission after defeating Jon Cooke, a Quilcene Republican and chair of the county Republican Party, in the 2018 election.
Kelbon, a licensed attorney and retired chemical engineer, retired from the biopharmaceutical company Omeros Medical Systems in 2019.
The two candidates singled out housing and homelessness as the top concerns of voters during the primary election and continued discussing those issues during the general election.
District 3 covers west and much of south Jefferson County and includes Gardiner, Discovery Bay, Quilcene, Brinnon and Port Ludlow. Jefferson County voters countywide chose the county commissioners.
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at Brian.Gawley@ sound publishing.com
Marcia Kelbon.