Republican Elizabeth Kreiselmaier, Derek Kilmer’s presumed opponent in the general election, has her work cut out for her.
Kilmer, the four-term 6th District congressman and Port Angeles native, had garnered 48.9 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary as of late Wednesday afternoon.
Kreislemaier won 26.08 percent of the vote region wide.
The balloting area includes 450,000 voters in Clallam, Jefferson, Grays Harbor and Kitsap counties, and portions of Mason and Pierce counties, including Tacoma.
Kreiselmaier, a Gig Harbor resident, is a Berkeley, Calif. native and women’s Bible study leader who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in special education, management and counseling psychology at the University of Oregon. She is a small business owner.
Kilmer, a Princeton University graduate and former business consultant at McKinsey and Company, also lives in Gig Harbor.
A member of the House Appropriations Committee, he has a doctorate in comparative social policy from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Progressive Democrat Rebecca Parson of Tacoma came in third in the primary in Clallam and Grays Harbor counties and second in Jefferson County.
In Clallam County, Kilmer had 45.04 percent, or 11,585 votes to Kreiselmaier’s 29.55 percent, or 7,602 votes.
In Jefferson County, Kilmer had 54.79 percent, or 6,665 votes, to Parson’s 2,208 votes. Kreiselmaier came in third with 16.61 percent, or 2,021 votes.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
