PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Public Utility District candidate Patti Morris appears to be assured a spot on the Nov. 3 ballot while Rich Paschal is slightly ahead of Marty Michaelis to oppose her, according to early returns in Tuesday’s primary election.
Also apparently paired for the Nov. 3 general election are Congressman Derek Kilmer and Elizabeth Kreiselmaier, Rep. Mike Chapman and Sue Forde, and Rep. Steve Tharinger and Brian Pruiett.
A levy lid lift of Clallam County Fire District 2 asking for a 58 percent levy rate hike of 50 cents per $1,000 of property valuation earned 1,491 “yes” votes, or 53.16 percent, to 1,314 “no” votes, or 46.84 percent opposed, in the initial count. It needs a simple majority of 50 percent plus one to pass.
The Clallam County Auditor’s Office counted on Tuesday night 22,708 ballots, or 41.47 percent of the 54,555 mailed to registered voters.
An estimated 5,500 ballots are left to count. The next ballot count will be by 5 p.m. Wednesday.
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 appeared on the primary ballot whether they had opponents or not, as did races with three or more candidates. Those with only two candidates automatically go on to the general election.
In the initial count:
Four candidates ran 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.
In the initial count of ballots, Morris won 2,638 votes, or 49.18 percent. Paschall received 1,170 votes, or 21.81 percent. Michaelis took 913 votes, or 17.02 percent. Neil Knutson received 618, or 11.52 percent.
Kilmer of Gig Harbor, a Democrat who has served four terms representing the 6th Congressional District — which includes the North Olympic Peninsula — won 14,637 votes, or 43.25 percent, region-wide to Kreiselmaier’s 23,723, or 25.43 percent. Kreiselmaier is a Republican.
Rebecca Parson won 11,908 votes, or 12.77 percent; Chris Welton received 6,010 votes, or 6.44 percent; Stephan Brodhead took 3,855 votes, or 4.13 percent; and Johny Alberg won 2,466 votes, or 2.64 percent.
The Clallam County breakdown in the first count of ballots was Kilmer, 10,054 votes, or 45.76 percent; Kreiselmaier, 6,403 votes, or 29.14 percent; Parson, 2,236, or 10.18 percent; Welton, 1,578 votes, or 7.18 percent.
In Jefferson County, the breakdown was Kilmer, 5,162 votes or 57.2 percent; Parson, 1,605 votes, or 17.79 percent; Kreiselmaier, 1, 44 votes, or 14.89 percent; Welton, 466 votes, or 5.16 percent; Brodhead, 272 votes, or 3.01 percent; and Alberg, 140 votes, or 1.55 percent.
In the 24th Legislative District, Chapman, the Democratic incumbent in Position 1, won 22,193 votes, or 57.61 percent region-wide, to Forde’s 10,390 votes, or 26.37 percent.
Daniel Charles Svoboda, who declared himself a member of the “Trump Republican Party” on the ballot, garnered 5,904 votes, or 15.33 percent.
In Clallam County, the breakdown was Chapman, 11,918 votes, or 53.7 percent; Forde, 7,522 votes, or 33.89 percent; Svoboda, 2,740 votes, or 12.35 percent.
In Jefferson County, the breakdown was Chapman, 6,874 votes, or 73.44 percent; Forde, 1,460 votes, or 15.6 percent; Svoboda, 1,013 votes, or 10.82 percent.
Tharinger, a Democrat and Position 2 incumbent, garnered region-wide 18,416 votes, or 48.67 percent, to Republican Puriett’s 9,943 votes, or 26.28 percent.
Democrat Darren Corcoran had 3,120 votes, or 8.25 percent.
Republican Jodi Wilke withdrew from this race last month, too late to have her name removed from the ballot. She took 6,338 votes, or 16.75 percent.
In Clallam County, the breakdown was Tharinger, 10,198, or 46.86 percent; Pruiett, 6,903, or 31.72 percent; Corcoran, 1,355 votes, or 6.23 percent; and Wilke, 3,295 votes, or 15.14 percent.
In Jefferson County, the breakdown was Tharinger, 5,795 votes, or 63.3 percent; Pruiett, 1,303 votes, or 14.23 percent; Corcoran, 877 votes, or 9.58 percent and Wilke, 1,174 votes, or 12.82 percent.
Also on the ballot were Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, a Sequim Democrat, and Connie Beauvais, a Joyce Republican . Van De Wege won 22,006 votes, or 56.97 percent region-wide in the first count of primary election ballots. Beauvais earned 16,582 votes, or 42.93 percent.
In Clallam County, Van De Wege won 11,715 votes, or 52.74 percent, to Beauvais’ 10,473 votes, or 47.15 percent.
In Jefferson County, Van De Wege won 6,895 votes, or 73.42 percent, to Beauvais’ 2,490 votes, or 26.51 percent.
Since they are the only two people in the race, they both will move on to the general election.