PORT TOWNSEND — After a third ballot count on Thursday, outcomes remained unchanged in Tuesday’s general election.
As of Thursday, the Jefferson County voter turnout was 46.66 percent after 12,876 of the 27,596 ballots provided to registered voters had been received, according to the Jefferson County Elections Office.
The next ballot count will be at 2 p.m. Nov. 23, when the election is certified, and 357 ballots are estimated left to be counted.
Ben Thomas, a winemaker, won the Position 1 seat on the Port Townsend City Council against Cameron Jones, a U.S. Army veteran and an organizer for the Jefferson County Chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement, after securing 72.43 percent of the votes while Jones received 26.62 percent.
The Position 1 seat is being vacated by Mayor Michelle Sandoval, who has served five terms.
Libby Urner Wennstrom, a self-employed technical writer and the vice chair of the Jefferson County Democrats, won the race for the Position 5 seat of the Port Townsend City Council in the race against Tyler Myles Vega, an IT professional and a co-chair of the Washington Progressive Party.
Wennstrom received 70.69 percent of the votes, and Vega received 28.49 percent.
The Position 5 seat on the Port Townsend City Council is being vacated by two-term incumbent Pamela Adams.
Incumbent Paul Mahan, owner of Mahan Log & Lumber, won the contest for the at-large, Position 5 seat on the Quilcene School Board with 57.41 percent of the vote, while challenger Ronald Leon Jones, a U.S. Navy veteran who works as a business analyst for a government contractor, received 42.13 percent.
Glenn T. Clemens, a retired ship captain who worked 40 years in the maritime industry, won the race against incumbent Ron Helmonds for the Position 3 seat on the Port Ludlow Fire District commission with Clemens receiving 59.71 percent of the votes to Helmonds 39.76 percent.
Multi-county races
A small number of Jefferson County residents voted in the Sequim School Board race for Position 4 and the Clallam County Fire District commission Position 1 contest.
On the Sequim School Board, Kristi Schmeck, who withdrew prior to the primary election, received a total of 55.93 percent of the votes while her opponent, Virginia R. Sheppard, a small business owner, received 42.72 percent.
On the Fire District 3 commission, Jeff Nicholas, a retired U.S. Navy submarine captain, won the election against Duane Chamlee, a U.S. Army veteran and retired California deputy fire chief, with Nicholas receiving 64.78 percent of the vote, while Chamlee received 34.82 percent.
________
Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.
