PORT ANGELES — Election Day results held true after the Clallam County Auditor’s Office tabulated 8,968 new ballots Friday, cementing solid wins for incumbent county Commissioner Mike Chapman and Superior Court Judge-to-be Erik Rohrer.
The new ballots, which were received last Tuesday and Wednesday, bring the countywide turnout to 35,837 — or 76 percent — of the 47,157 voters who received a ballot in the mail.
County Auditor Patty Rosand said her office will count Tuesday the 2,508 ballots that were received late last week.
Jefferson County
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office counted an additional 3,597 votes Friday, bringing the total votes cast in the all-mail election to 18,979 out of 22,756 ballots issued, or a voter turnout of 83.4 percent.
The office has 1,000 ballots on hand. The next count will be at about noon next Friday, Nov. 16.
In Clallam County, Chapman, 49, widened his lead on Republican challenger Maggie Roth in the commissioners’ race from 61.6 percent on Election Day to 62.4 percent Friday.
Chapman, who lists no party preference, earned a fourth four-year term as the commissioner for District 2, the central third of the county.
Chapman had a 5,774-vote lead on Election Day. The lead has since grown to 8,121.
“I knew Mike had won,” Roth said Friday.
Roth, who regularly attends county commissioners’ meetings, said the loss “doesn’t mean I’m going away,” adding that the campaign was a “great experience.”
Rohrer, the current judge for Clallam County District Court No. 2 in Forks, solidified a 55.4 percent win over Clallam County Hearing Examiner Chris Melly on Friday.
Melly conceded the race on election night, when he trailed by 2,666 votes.
Rohrer, 54, will replace retiring Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams in January.
Congressional race
Meanwhile, Derek Kilmer maintained Friday a big lead districtwide in the race for U.S. Congress.
Kilmer, a Gig Harbor Democrat and Port Angeles native, had 157,025 votes to Tacoma Republican Bill Driscoll’s 110,760 votes for a 58.6 percent to 41.4 percent lead.
Kilmer led with 60.0 percent of the vote on Election Day.
The two were vying for the seat held by 18-term 6th Congressional District Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, who is retiring.
The 6th Congressional District includes Clallam and Jefferson counties.
Here are the results of the 24th District state legislative races as of Friday:
■ Democratic incumbent Kevin Van De Wege of Sequim was leading Craig Durgan 40,685 votes to 22,690 votes — a 64.2 percent margin — in the race for 24th Legislative District Position 1.
■ Democratic incumbent Steve Tharinger of Sequim was leading Steve Gale 37,839 votes to 26,921 votes — a 58.4 percent margin — in the race for 24th Legislative District Position 1.
■ Democratic incumbent Jim Hargrove of Hoquiam was leading Larry Carter 42,034 votes to 22,149 votes — a 65.5 percent margin — in the race for state senator.
The 24th Legislative District includes Clallam and Jefferson counties.
Many of the ballots received Friday were MYVOTE replacement ballots that need to be hand-duplicated onto official ballots, Rosand said.
‘Slow process’
“A slow process,” she added.
“We will continue to receive provisional ballots from other jurisdictions and some military/overseas ballots in the next week. There will be some ballots with signature issues that will be ‘cured’ before we canvass them on Nov. 26.”
The Clallam County Canvassing Board will certify the election Nov. 27.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
