PORT ANGELES — First-term incumbent Sarah Methner and challenger Debby Fuson appear headed for a November face-off for Port Angeles School Board director in Position 1 based on initial election returns.
David M. Tietz was in third place in the all-mail primary to determine the two top vote-getters for the general election.
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With 3,769 ballots counted Tuesday at 8 p.m., Methner held a commanding lead with 2,332 votes, or 61.87 percent. Fuson had 779 votes, or 20.67 percent, and Tietz had 658 votes, or 17.46 percent.
The early lead was a surprise to Methner.
“I was a nervous wreck. I wasn’t expecting [my lead] to be quite so large,” she said at the Clallam County Courthouse, where she joined other candidates to hear the results of the election as initial tallies were released just after 8 p.m.
Methner said she credits her performance as an incumbent for the large margin.
“My record is pretty clear how I handle things,” she said.
Fuson, who ran unsuccessfully against Methner in 2009, said that she is ready to jump into the campaign and has a small group of supporters ready to help.
“I am ready to dedicate more time to the race and hope for a different outcome,” she said.
Tietz’s Tuesday results showed him 121 votes behind Fuson in the top-two primary.
“There’s at least a thousand more votes not counted yet,” Teitz said after receiving the results of the first count.
Teitz said he counted on the votes of people he knew to get him through the primaries, but said that in hindsight, he may have made a mistake.
“It may have been better go out and talk to more people,” he said.
The Clallam County Auditor’s Office counted 10,393 ballots Tuesday night.
Auditor Patty Rosand said she couldn’t estimate how many more were outstanding.
The next count probably will be Friday, she said.
The election will be certified on Aug. 20.
The general election will be Nov. 5. Ballots will be mailed on Oct. 16.
Methner, 43, is seeking a second four-year term. She describes herself as a stay-at-home mom.
Fuson, 60, is in accounting and business services, with emphasis in construction, manufacturing and retail sales.
She never has held public office.
Tietz, 50, is in the wholesale business. He never has held public office.
A second contested Port Angeles School District director’s seat, Position 2, will be decided in November.
Because there are only two candidates running for Position 2 — incumbent School Board member Cindy Kelly and challenger Mike McCarty — there was no primary vote.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
