PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County primary election ballots are due by 8 p.m. Tuesday. They include one county contest, two in the 24th Legislative District, numerous state races, one congressional office and a single-year levy lid lift for Clallam County Fire District 2.
The primary election culls the choices in each race to the top-two vote-getters who will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election. All partisan candidates appear on the primary ballot whether they have opponents or not, as do races with three or more candidates. Those with only two candidates will automatically go on to the general election.
Ballots were sent to 54,555 registered voters on July 15. They must be delivered to the Auditor’s Office — which will stay open until 8 p.m. Tuesday — placed in a drop box or postmarked by 8 p.m. Tuesday to be counted.
As of Thursday, the latest day for which the Clallam County Auditor’s Office has posted totals, the office had received 13,101 ballots, or 24.01 percent.
Drop boxes are at:
• Carlsborg: 261461 U.S. Highway 101 near Sunny Farms.
• Clallam Bay: 16990 state Highway 112 in front of the Clallam Bay Library.
• Forks: 500 E. Division St., outside Forks City Hall.
• Neah Bay: 1450 Bayview Ave., in front of Washburn’s General Store.
• Clallam County Courthouse: 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles; two drop boxes available.
• Sekiu: 15 Sekiu Airport Road at the Clallam County PUD office.
• Sequim: 651 W. Washington St., in the parking lot near JCPenney.
Four are vying for the Clallam County PUD seat being vacated by appointee Dave Anderson, who was named to fill the expiring term of the late Hugh Hafner.
Neil Knutson, Safeway store manager Marty Michaelis, consultant Patti Morris and retired utility cooperative manager Rich Paschall are on the ballot for the PUD position.
Clallam County Fire District 2 is asking for a 58 percent levy rate hike of 50 cents per $1,000 of property valuation to finance maintenance, operations and facilities improvements.
The district’s voting precincts include Freshwater Bay, Dry Creek, Madison Creek, Black Diamond, Belleview, Mount Angeles, Mount Pleasant and Deer Park.
The measure’s revenues would pay for two first responders at the Dry Creek station and establish a fund to replace the district’s decades-old vehicles, said Chief Jake Patterson.
The rate hike would add $100 in annual taxes for the owner of a $200,000 home. The district’s property tax rate would be set at $1.36 per $1,000 dollars of assessed valuation.
That exceeds the 1 percent limit set for annual increases in tax revenues for one year. The levy dollar amount collected in 2021 would be used for computing the limitation for subsequent levies.
In statewide races, 36 candidates are running for governor, including incumbent Jay Inslee; 11 for lieutenant governor; four for secretary of state, including incumbent Kim Wyman; three for state auditor, including incumbent Pat McCarthy; four for attorney general, including incumbent Bob Ferguson; seven for commissioner of public lands, including incumbent Hilary Franz; six for superintendent of public instruction, including incumbent Chris Reykdal; and three for insurance commissioner, including incumbent Mike Kreidler.
Of the state races, the state treasurer’s has only two candidates, including incumbent Duane Davidson. Both candidates will advance to the general election.
Five people are running against Congressman Derek Kilmer for the seat representing the 6th Congressional District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula. This year’s race is unusual in that Kilmer has opposition from a member of his own party, Democrat Rebecca Parsons.
In the 24th Legislative District — which includes Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County — Democratic state Reps. Mike Chapman of Port Angeles and Steve Tharinger of Port Townsend face primary contests.
Chapman is challenged for his Position 1 seat by Sue Forde, a Republican, and Daniel Charles Svoboda, who stated his party preference on the ballot as Trump Republican Party.
Tharinger is opposed by fellow Democrat Darren Corcoran and by Republican Brian Pruiett. Republican Jodi Wilke’s name is on the ballot in this race, but she announced her withdrawal from the race last month.
Also on the ballot will be Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, a Sequim Democrat opposed by Republican Connie Beauvais. Since they are only two people in the race, they will both move on to the general election.
Clallam County Superior Court Judges Brent Basden and Superior Court judge appointee Simon Barnhart have no one running against them.
Basden is an incumbent, and Barnhart took office June 2 when Judge Brian Coughenhour retired.
The Peninsula Daily News has published stories on primary contests involving Clallam County Public Utility District commission and the state Legislature. They can be found at peninsuladailynews.com.
A statewide online voters’ guide is available at www.votewa.gov. Printed voters’ pamphlets are not produced for primaries.
League of Women Voters forums are at www.lwvwa.org/forums.
On Tuesday night, the PDN will publish results online. Stories on the initial results, as well as updates following Election Night as more ballots are counted, will be published in the print editions beginning Thursday.
