PORT TOWNSEND — Incumbent Dave Thompson will face challenger Bob Schuessler on Nov. 3 for the Port of Port Townsend District 2 seat, it was decided after a hand recount of ballots this morning at the Jefferson County Auditor’s office.
A third challenger in the Aug. 18 primary race, David Whipple, was eliminated so that the top two candidates could proceed.
County Auditor Donna Eldridge said the recount confirmed the accuracy of the county’s election tabulation system, since there were no changes in results from last week’s tabulation.
Before the tabulation, Schuessler had a seven-vote lead, with 551 votes, or 25.19 percent, to Whipple’s 546, or 24.97 percent.
After 17 ballots were tabulated last Wednesday, and the Jefferson County Canvassing Board approved eight of 13 questionable ballot signatures, 66-year-old retired harbormaster Schuessler’s tally was unchanged, but educator and consultant Whipple picked up two votes.
The five-vote lead dropped Schuessler’s margin of victory to .455 of a percent, which is just below the half-percent threshold of win required under state law for a recount.
The election was certified last week, but the recount is the final result in the port primary race.
Thompson, 66, a shipwright at the Boat Haven, seeks a second four-year term.
Incumbent District 3 Port Commissioner Herb Beck, a 71-year-old Quilcene farmer retired from Keyport Naval Center and the longest-standing port commissioner in the state, will face Leif Erickson, Townsend Bay Marine’s production manager, in the Nov. 3 general election.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
