PORT ANGELES — Connie Beauvais of Joyce was the top vote-getter in initial primary election returns for the Port of Port Angeles District 3 seat, while Michael Breidenbach of Forks was edging out Lee Whetham of Port Angeles as her opponent in the November general election.
Beauvais, 63, won 615 votes, or 32.71 percent, while Breidenbach, 63, had 461 votes, or 24.52 percent and Whetham, 55, had 430 votes, or 22.87 percent.
Rick “Doc” Robinson, 62, of Port Angeles won 374 votes, or 19.89 percent.
The four-year position is now held by John Calhoun of Forks, who did not run for re-election.
Only 31 votes — less than 2 percentage points — separated Breidenbach, a Forks City Council member, from Whetham, a member of the Port Angeles City Council, with as many as 4,000 votes remaining to be counted across Clallam County.
Only District 3 voters cast ballots in the primary.
Beauvais, who manages the Crescent Water District and serves on the Clallam County Charter Review Commission and the county Planning Commission, was jubilant when contacted Tuesday night.
“I am really pleased and just tickled with all the support I have had on the West End and anxious to take their message on the campaign trail to the rest of the county,” she said.
The top two finishers will run against each other across Clallam County, which comprises the area served by the port.
Breidenbach did not return calls for comment tonight.
Whetham said, “I had a prepared statement for each side of the coin [win or lose], so I’m in sort of a holding pattern.”
Whetham said that if he lost, “I will throw all my support to Mike [Breidenbach].”
Of 13,248 registered voters in District 3, the auditor’s office had received 2,182 ballots by Tuesday afternoon, a voter turnout of 16.74 percent, of which 1,938 ballots had been tallied.
Forty-eight ballots were disqualified, 43 because the voters marked no choice, 15 because they chose more than one candidate.
On Tuesday night, the auditor’s office counted 11,457 out of the 43,522 ballots mailed to registered voters, a countywide voter turnout of 26.32 percent.
County Auditor Shoona Riggs said her office has about 2,000 uncounted ballots on hand and expected 1,000 to 2,000 more to arrive this week. Aug. 18 is the deadline for each county canvassing board to certify election results.
The next vote count will be by 4:30 p.m. Friday.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
