PORT ANGELES — Candidates will file this week to run in the Nov. 8 general election, which includes the presidential, congressional and statewide races, as well as five Clallam County positions.
The five Clallam County positions open this year are three Superior Court judge posts, a county commission seat and a public utility district commission seat.
Candidates can file at the county Auditor’s Office at the county courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
Candidates also will file for two state House of Representatives and one Senate seat to run in District 24, which includes Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County.
Also on the ballot is the 6th Congressional District seat held by U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, whose district includes the North Olympic Peninsula.
The seat held by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Seattle, will be up as well as nine statewide executive offices and three Supreme Court seats.
Statewide offices on the ballot will be governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, attorney general, commissioner of public lands, superintendent of public instruction and insurance commissioner.
Candidate filing starts Monday and runs through Friday.
The top two vote recipients for each office in the Aug. 2 primary election will advance to the Nov. 8 general election.
24th District
State Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, announced earlier this year that he will not run for another four-year term.
In March, state Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, declared his intention to run for Hargrove’s seat. Van De Wege said Friday that he plans to file to run for the Senate seat Wednesday.
Tammy Ramsay, 48, of Hoquiam has announced her intention to run as a Democrat for Van De Wege’s legislative seat.
She will face off in the August primary against Mike Chapman, also a Democrat and a Clallam County commissioner.
State Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Sequim, a three-term incumbent Democrat, said Friday he plans to file for re-election Monday. He said he was not aware of any challengers.
No Republican candidates have announced candidacy for the 24th District seats.
County Republican chair Dick Pilling said Friday that he is aware of one person from his party who plans to file this week but added that he is “sworn to secrecy.”
Clallam commissioners
With Chapman’s term ending on the county commission, that seat is open this fall.
Two Republicans and one Democrat have announced plans to run for the seat.
Gabe Rygaard, a logger and reality television star, has announced plans to run against Maggie Roth, another Republican.
Democrat Ron Richards announced plans to run for Chapman’s county seat in April.
He was a 31-year-old Clallam County deputy prosecuting attorney when he ran for commissioner and won in 1976. He served one term before going into private law practice.
Roth is a civil process server and a former owner of Northwest Duty Free and Currency Exchange in Port Angeles.
She has run unsuccessfully once for the county post against Chapman.
The commission seats of Mark Ozias and Bill Peach are up in 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Superior Court
Clallam County has three Superior Court judge positions open in the November election; all three are nonpartisan races.
The four-year terms of incumbent Judges Christopher Melly, Erik Rohrer and Brian Coughenour all end this year.
Of the three, Melly and Coughenour confirmed that they plan to file for re-election. Rohrer could not be reached for comment.
Utility district
One of three commission seats for the PUD will be open this fall, a non-partisan race for a six-year term.
Will Purser is incumbent commissioner.
Statewide, 346 offices are open for election, including 90 filing with the secretary of state.
The secretary of state will accept filings for federal and statewide candidates, the state Supreme Court and all legislative and judicial offices encompassing more than one county.
County election departments will handle all other filings.
The filing fee is 1 percent of one year’s salary for the office sought. Examples are the U.S. Senate or House, $1,740; governor, $1,718.98; Legislature, $454.74; state Supreme Court, $1,794.32.
For county information, see http://tinyurl.com/PDN-clallamelections.
For state information, see http://tinyurl.com/jofpft4.
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Assistant Managing Editor Mark Swanson can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55450, or mswanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
