PORT TOWNSEND — One Port Townsend City Council race is too close to call, while the race’s lone incumbent was apparently defeated in a bid for re-election after the initial count of ballots in the general election Tuesday night.
Deputy Mayor George Randels conceded the election to challenger Robert Gray for the Position 4 seat after Gray drew 1,795 votes, or 58.41 percent, against Randels’ 1,256 votes, or 40.87 percent.
In the race for the Position 3 seat, Jack Range was leading Deborah Stinson with an eight-vote margin: 1,642 votes, or 49.89 percent, to 1,634 votes, or 49.65 percent.
Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge initially planned to run another tally Thursday but moved the count to today because of the closeness of Tuesday’s results.
“We were going to wait until Thursday, but if nothing else, we’ll get Port Townsend through,” she said.
Eldridge said the new count would be posted sometime in the afternoon to allow time to collect ballots from the post office box.
“This is a strange year,” said Randels, 68.
“That a Republican [U.S. representative] won in Manhattan [N.Y.] means anything can happen.”
Randels said he had enjoyed serving on the council.
“I thought I served well,” he added, “but the voters disagreed.”
Gray, 64, saw the election results as only the beginning.
“Now is the time to get to work,” Gray said.
“I think the vote had to do with the city’s financial situation, which people want to know more about, and examining that will be my job.”
The race between Range, 25, and Stinson, 56, for the seat vacated by Laurie Medlicott took on a generational aspect, with Stinson citing her experience and Range emphasizing his youth and his ability to represent the needs of younger citizens.
Range, 25, felt the close race against Stinson sent a message.
“This is bigger than myself,” said Range, an investigator for Jefferson Associated Counsel.
“The vote means that all the citizens of the town should be represented.”
He called campaigning “a self-clarifying experience.”
Stinson, a retired information technology worker who won the Jefferson County Heart of Service award in 2011, declined ro comment “until there is something to say.”
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office issued 6,849 ballots in Port Townsend for the all-mail election, and as of Tuesday, 3,710, or 54 percent, had been returned.
The office counted all ballots except those that had remained in drop boxes or were coming in by mail.
Election officials predicted that about another 1,000 countywide would come in this week.
Randels, who was appointed in 2007 and was elected to a full four-year term later that year, drew opposition from Gray because he was the longest-serving council member who was running for re-election.
Randels is a retired attorney who worked in Washington, D.C., for a member and a committee of the House of Representatives.
Gray is a retired regional audit manager for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Attorney General, and is currently a financial consultant for nonprofit and state agencies.
Campaigning in the race centered around Randels’ incumbency, with Gray saying he could provide a fresh voice and increased fiscal responsibility.
Randels said his experience and incumbency was an advantage and that his previous work on Capitol Hill qualified him to work in a legislative arena.
Two other council members, David King and Kris Nelson, did not draw any opposition.
King received 2,174 votes, or 97.71 percent, and Nelson had 2,307 votes, or 97.1 percent, on Tuesday.
The City Council seats are four-year positions that pay $500 monthly for all council members except the mayor, who receives $750 a month.
The council oversees a budget that in 2011 is $29.5 million, with $6.8 million in general fund and $9.2 million for capital projects.
It also hires a city manager who oversees 107 full-time equivalent positions in 2011.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
