PORT TOWNSEND — Juelie Dalzell will serve a third term as Jefferson County prosecuting attorney.
“I am elated,” said Dalzell, 58, of Port Townsend, after hearing the results of Thursday’s second ballot count.
“I am very gratified for the trust the voters have shown, and I’ll give it my all over the next four years to improve the quality of services we offer.”
Dalzell won 3,968 votes, or 52.49 percent, to challenger Peggy Ann Bierbaum’s 3,582 votes, or 47.38 percent.
The race is decided with the primary “pick a party” election that ended Tuesday because both candidates are Democrats.
On Thursday, 1,918 more Jefferson County ballots were counted. Those were added to the 9,607 ballots counted Tuesday.
As of Thursday, 11,525 ballots had been counted of the 20,868 sent out to Jefferson County voters, or 55.23 percent.
Fourteen ballots were still uncounted as of Thursday, and 103 are being challenged because the signatures don’t appear to match or have no signatures.
The next count will be when the election is certified on Sept. 29, said Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge.
Bierbaum, 49, a private practice attorney in Port Townsend living in Quilcene, was unavailable for comment Thursday despite repeated attempts to contact her Thursday.
Bierbaum had been endorsed by Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Brasfield, a Democrat, and Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Barbara Bradford.
Brasfield said he endorsed Bierbaum because he thought the prosecutor’s office, run by Dalzell, did not do a good job of prosecuting criminals.
He was unavailable for comment Thursday despite attempts to reach him.
But Dalzell said if Brasfield is re-elected to Sheriff in the Nov. 7 general election — he’s running against Republican real estate broker Richard Brees — she doesn’t think the two offices will be at odds.
“I really don’t think there’s been a rift particularly,” Dalzell said.
“He’s extremely professional and I think he’ll continue to be professional.”
She said his criticisms, such saying she was repeatedly unprepared for trial, were vague and she would consider tweaking her approach if he can show his critiques are based in fact.
In her next four-year term, Dalzell said her top priority will be to aid those with co-occurring disorders of mental illness and chemical dependency.
“I am planning on expanding treatment courts,” she said.
She said by the end of the year, her office will have about $200,000 in state grants to help those with mental illness and drug or alcohol problems.
District Court judge
Jill Landes and Richard Suryan won places on the November ballot to challenge each other for district court judge.
Thursday’s second count had Suryan shooting ahead of Rebekah Ross, 49, an administrative law judge from Brinnon, who he was edging out by only 75 votes after the initial count on Tuesday.
Both district judge candidates live in Port Townsend and work in Port Angeles.
Landes, 56, is senior deputy prosecuting attorney in Clallam County.
Suryan is a Clallam County public defense attorney.
John Hynson, 58, a Port Townsend private practice attorney, conceded his candidacy Wednesday and endorsed Suryan for the position.
After Thursday’s second count, Landes had 3,673 votes, or 37.38 percent; Suryan had 2,809 votes, or 28.58 percent; Ross had 2,545 votes or 25.9 percent; and Hynson had 785 votes, or 7.99 percent.
“It confirms my thinking that people like what I have to say,” Suryan said.
He said he has 23 years of law practice experience on the prosecuting side and defense side.
“If experience is what [voters] are looking for, then I hope they vote for me, because I’ve certainly got a lot.”
Landes said Thursday’s count didn’t surprise her too much because she maintained about the same percentage of votes from Tuesday’s count.
“I look forward to the [general election] campaign,” Landes said.
“I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
Ross said Thursday, “I offer my congratulations to Jill and Richard and want to thank my supporters for all their hard work.”
She said she would not endorse either candidate.
Fire District No. 5 Levy
The proposed permanent Jefferson County Fire District No. 5 levy did not pass after Thursday’s count.
The levy, which would have had Discovery Bay and Gardiner residents paying 50 cents for every $1,000 of assessed property valuation permanently, failed to reach the required 60 percent supermajority.
With Thursday’s count, there were 158 votes, or 57.25 percent, for the levy and 118, or 42.75, votes against the levy.
The levy was earmarked for emergency medical services.
Ben Cooper, Fire District No. 5 chief, promised the levy would appear on the Nov. 7 general election ballot as a five-year levy instead of a permanent one.
It will be for the same amount, and would have the owner of a $200,000 home paying $100 a year.
District 3 Commissioners
Ian McFall will face Democrat John Austin for the Jefferson County Commission District 3 after winning the primary race with fellow Republican Bob Pontius.
McFall, 66, of Brinnon garnered 869 votes, or 56.17 percent, to Pontius’ 669 votes, or 43.24 percent.
McFall will face Austin, 64, of Port Ludlow, in the November election.
McFall was in Great Britain visiting family Thursday, and Pontius was unavailable for comment despite several attempts to reach him Thursday.
