PORT TOWNSEND — A second vote of ballots Wednesday apparently eliminated one candidate from a Port Townsend City Council contest and set up Amy Smith and Paul Rice as contenders for the Position 6 seat Nov. 3.
The Wednesday noon count of the 472 ballots that came in after election night Tuesday widened the margin between Rice, 32, and Todd Wexman, 77.
Wexman was behind Rice by 77 votes Tuesday night. The gap widened to 117 after the count of additional ballots.
Of 2,776 votes cast, reflecting a 36.81 percent voter turnout, Smith, 33, won 1,525 votes, or 57.44 percent, while Rice won 615 votes, or 23.17 percent, and Wexman had 498 votes, or 18.76 percent.
The top-two primary election narrows the field to the two candidates who received the most votes before the November general election.
Betty Johnson, Jefferson County election coordinator, estimated that about 100 votes could still arrive in the mail but said it would be “unlikely” that Wexman would close the gap.
The final vote count is scheduled for about noon Friday prior to the Aug. 18 election certification, Johnson said.
The Position 6 seat is being vacated by Mayor David King, who is not running for a third term.
It was the only council seat to draw a primary contest.
In November, along with the Position 6 race, David Faber, 32, and Travis Keena, 38, will face off for Position 7, while Councilwoman Deborah Stinson, 59 (Position 3), and Councilman Robert Gray, 67 (Position 4), are unopposed in their bids for second terms.
Rice’s promotion to the general election guarantees the two new council members will be younger than 40.
That, both Smith and Rice said, will change the balance of the council.
The present City Council has no member younger than 45, while four of the seven members are over older than 60.
“Position 6 will be filled by a tattooed, thirty-something Rush fan, one way or another,” Smith said, referring to herself and Rice, who named his now-closed bar, Middletown Dreams, after a song by the Canadian power trio.
Both Rice and Smith have downtown Port Townsend business experience.
Rice owned and operated Middletown Dreams for three years before closing in June, while Smith is executive director of the Boiler Room, an all-ages social services facility.
All three candidates were surprised by Smith’s lopsided plurality.
Rice and Smith expected to draw similar numbers, while Wexman expected the two younger candidates to split the youth vote and put him in first place.
“I thought I would do well because I’ve been in the news a lot over the past years, and I have the courage to tell the people in Port Townsend the truth,” said Wexman, a retired architect who is a frequent commenter at Port Townsend City Council meetings.
Smith said she had expected her and Rice to get about the same number of votes.
Rice said he was disappointed by the results — that the margin was so wide between himself and Smith and so narrow between himself and Wexman.
“I don’t see how Amy got so many more votes than me because we appeal to the same people,” he said after the initial count.
“And to have worked so hard and only get 77 more votes than Todd is really discouraging.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
