PORT TOWNSEND — Jessica Gossette has won the Position 4 seat on the Quilcene School Board.
Gossette, 46, received 241 votes, or 63.09 percent, while Jenelle Cleland, 45, received 141 votes, or 36.91 percent, in the initial count of general election ballots Tuesday night.
Voter turnout as of Tuesday night was 36.93 percent, with 9,553 ballots counted of the 25,851 provided registered voters in Jefferson County.
The next count results will be announced after 4 p.m. Friday.
Gossette, the store manager of Wild Birds Unlimited, was at home working on her computer when a friend messaged her to check the election results.
Jenelle Cleland
“I’m excited to be able to serve the Quilcene School Board should the election be certified in my favor,” Gossette said. “I lived in this community my entire life … I am pretty passionate about the school and am excited for that opportunity.
“[Cleland] is a great person and I think she would have been lovely to have on the school board as well and I don’t think the community could have gone wrong either way.”
Cleland was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.
The winner of the election will be sworn in at a board meeting following the elections certification at 1 p.m. Nov. 26.
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.