PORT TOWNSEND — Five candidates are contending for the Jefferson County commissioner seat being vacated by Phil Johnson.
Three are Democrats, one is a Republican and one has no party preference. All are from Port Townsend.
Cynthia Koan, Kate Dean and Tim Thomas are Democrats. Contractor Jeff Gallant is the sole Republican. On Friday, Holly Postmus, who filed with no party preference, joined the fray for the Position 1 seat.
Top-two primary
The top two vote-getters in the Aug. 2 primary will advance to the Nov. 8 general election regardless of party affiliation.
In the race for the District 1 Public Utility District commissioner seat, incumbent Barney Burke is challenged by Jeff Randall.
Three Jefferson County residents are seeking congressional or legislative offices.
Danille Turissini and George Vrable, both of Port Ludlow, seek 24th District legislative seats — which covers Jefferson and Clallam counties, and part of Grays Harbor County — while Tyler Myles Vega of Port Townsend is among those challenging U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, who is seeking a fourth two-year term in the 6th District.
Turissini, 58, is seeking the state Senate seat now occupied by Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, who is retiring.
Turissini, who calls herself “an Independent Republican,” is running against Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, a Sequim Democrat, for a four-year term.
She said she wants to improve schools, create good-paying jobs and provide good stewardship of lands and tax dollars.
Vrable, who was not available for comment Friday, also filed as Republican. He is running for the state representative Position 1 seat Van De Wege is leaving to run for Senate.
Vrable faces Clallam County Commissioner Mike Chapman of Port Angeles, who filed as a Democrat; and Tammy Ramsay of Hoquiam, also a Democrat.
The three candidates will face off in a primary election contest.
On Friday, Steve Tharinger, D-Sequim, picked up a challenger for his 24th District Position 2 seat.
John D. Alger of Sequim, who “prefers GOP/Independent Party,” is opposing Tharinger’s bid for re-election.
Alger, who has never held elective public office, is a car reservation agent in Port Angeles.
“[On Friday] afternoon, I was checking the Secretary of State’s Office and saw that nobody had filed to run against Steve Tharinger,” Alger said Saturday.
“We need a choice. That’s pretty much it.”
Congressional district
Vega, 39, who has lived in Port Townsend for one month, has filed as a member of the Green Party and is a strong supporter of Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination for the presidency.
He is challenging Kilmer, a Gig Harbor Democrat who grew up in Port Angeles, for a seat in the 6th District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula.
Kilmer is also challenged by Republicans Stephan Andrew Brodhead and Todd Bloom, both of Tacoma; Democrat Paul Nuchims of Manchester; and Mike Coverdale of Westport, who has no party preference.
Vega said: “I think we need to get money out of politics and get politics back to the point where it is of service to the people.
“I’m against anything that pits big money against the livelihood of the people.”
County commission
In the five-way Position 1 county commission race:
■ Koan, 53, a Democrat, is the chair of the Jefferson County Planning Commission.
Her priority is to develop the county’s comprehensive plan in an understandable way while addressing water issues and global warming.
■ Dean, 41, a Democrat, is manager of the North Olympic Peninsula Resource Conservation & Development Council.
She intends to be “a new voice to step up and represent working families in Jefferson County.”
She has lived in Jefferson County for 17 years and said she has worked with local governments on such issues as economic development and climate.
■ Thomas, 45, a Democrat, is a member of the county’s Parks and Recreation Board who unsuccessfully challenged District 2 Commissioner David Sullivan in 2012.
His priorities are to build the Port Hadlock sewer facility and provide more support to county parks.
■ Gallant, 59, is a contractor and the sole Republican.
The major issues for Gallant are transportation, including public transportation, and growth.
Gallant said he is not seeking, nor would he accept, support from the Jefferson County Republican Party, citing GOP denial of human-caused climate change as his main reason.
■ Postmus, 55, runs a Port Townsend lawn and garden service.
Her top priority is to clear the way so older workers can find jobs for which they are qualified.
“I want to make sure the county hires the most qualified people,” she said.
“I’ve applied for more than 350 jobs in this area for which I was qualified and only got a handful of responses.”
PUD race
Burke, 60, who served on the board during the PUD’s assumption of the county’s electrical power service, stressed financial accountability.
“We need to work on our long-term business strategy,” he said.
“People everywhere are going to choose more solar and more conservation, so we need a business model that will work.”
Randall, 49, has worked in the solar industry for many years.
“The PUD needs to get its fiscal house in order,” he said.
“We need to have a fiscally responsible PUD that charges fair rates and maintains system reliability.”
Randall, who has not held political office, led two successful bond issues that won by large margins.
Unopposed
At the close of candidate filing week Friday, two Jefferson County incumbents were not challenged.
District 2 Jefferson County Commissioner David Sullivan has no challengers in his bid for a fourth term, while Keith Harper, Jefferson County’s sole Superior Court judge, is unopposed as he seeks a second term.
Sullivan said he was surprised by the lack of opposition because last-minute challengers have emerged during his last two election contests.
The main challenge the county faces is maintaining financial stability, he said.
Harper, 62, was elected to his first term in 2012.
“I appreciate not being opposed in this election. I thoroughly enjoy my position and have worked hard to try to do a good job and I feel my first term of service has gone well,” he wrote in an email.
The seat held by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Seattle, is 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.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
