PORT ANGELES — Appointee Karin Ashton was leading by one vote against Greg Bellamy Sr., for a seat on the Clallam Bay Fire District’s board, after a second count of general election ballots today that flipped the results from Tuesday’s initial count.
Tuesday night results had Bellamy leading by five votes in the race for the fire district’s Position 2 seat.
After today’s second count, Ashton, 69, had 47 vote, or 50 percent, and Bellamy, 65, had 46 votes, or 48.94 percent. There was one write-in vote.
The race was the only one in Clallam County in which the outcome changed after the second ballot count.
The Clallam County Auditor’s Office reports that 16,270 ballots were cast in the election out of 53,887 provided to registered voters for a voter turnout of 30.19 percent.
The next count is set for today.
The next count in Jefferson County will be on Friday.
In other contested races:
— Incumbents Mark Ozias of the Clallam County commissioners and Connie Beauvais of the Port of Port Angeles continued to be the front runners for their positions after the second ballot count.
Ozias, a 49-year-old Democrat, is running against challenger Brandon Janisse, a 34-year-old Republican, for the Sequim area seat on the county commission.
Ozias had 3,951 votes, or 53.42 percent, to Janisse’s 3,427 votes, or 46.34 percent. Eighteen write-in votes were cast.
Connie Beauvais, 68, a Joyce resident, is seeking reelection to the port’s Westside District 3 seat. She is challenged by Maury Modine, 63, of Beaver.
Beauvais has 8,684 votes, or 63.85 percent, to Modine’s 4,857 votes, or 36.71 percent. Sixty write-in votes were cast.
— Ann Marie Henninger, 52, won the District 1 seat on the Olympic Medical Center commission against Nate Adkisson, 40, both of Sequim. The seat is now held by John Beitzel.
Henninger had 8,711 votes, or 64.66 percent, to Adkisson’s 4,715 votes, or 35 percent. There were 45 write-in votes.
— OMC District 2 seat incumbent Jean Hordyk, 72, of Port Angeles, retained her seat against challenger Ted Bowen, 36, of Carlsborg for the OMC District 2 seat.
Hordyk had 9,105 votes, or 69.66 percent, to Bowen’s 3,904 votes, or 29.87 percent. Sixty-two write-in votes were cast.
— Three seats on the Port Angeles City Council will be filled by new faces. No incumbents were running.
Charlie McCaughan, 63, won the Position 5 seat over Richard ‘Doc’ Robinson, 66. The seat is being vacated by Michael Merideth.
McCaughan had 2,315 votes, or 75.65 percent, to Robinson’s 726 votes, or 23.73 percent. Nineteen write-in votes were cast.
Nina Napiontek, 38, was narrowly leading Navarra Carr, 27, for the Position 6 seat being vacated by Mayor Sissi Bruch.
Napiontek had 1,572 votes, or 50.42 percent, to Carr’s 1,534 votes, or 40.20 percent. There were 12 write-in votes.
Brendan Meyer, 35, was leading Martha Cunningham, 67, for the Position 7 seat being vacated by Cherie Kidd.
Meyer had 1,586 votes, or 51.56 percent, to Cunningham’s 1,476 votes, or 47.98 percent. Fourteen write-in votes were cast.
— An incumbent on the Sequim City Council was challenged by a declared write-in candidate because of the controversy over a planned medicine-assisted treatment clinic.
Incumbent Jennifer States won handily against write-in candidate Sarah W. Kincaid for Position 2, with 1,185 votes, or 84.10 percent to 224 write-in votes. — 15.90 percent.
— Katie Marks, 48, won against Arwen Rice, 50, in the contest for the Port Angeles School Board’s Position 3 seat now held by Dr. Joshua Jones. Marks had 3,333 votes, or 65.15 percent, to Rice’s 1,765 votes, or 34.5 percent. There were 18 write-in votes.
— In Forks, Mike Gilstrap, 47, was leading Danny Smith, who declined to provide biographical information, for the Position 5 seat on the City Council, which is now held by Jon Preston. Gilstrap had 125 votes, or 55.31 percent, to Smith’s 100 votes, or 44.25 percent. There was one write-in vote.
— Steven G. Hopf, 64, won the Clallam County Fire District 2 seat now held by Richard Rudd.
Hopf earned 1,308 votes, or 75.17 percent, to Keith Cortner’s 427 votes, 24.54 percent. Five write-in votes were cast.
— J. Mike Rudd, 64, won against incumbent Jan L. Richardson in the count of ballots for the Park and Recreation District 1, Position 5 — formerly the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center. Rudd earned 3,992 votes, or 57.98 percent, to Richardson’s 2,853 votes, or 41.44 percent. There were 40 write-in votes.
Local measures on the ballot include:
— Voters overwhelmingly gave the go-ahead to a levy-lid lift to help the Joyce Fire District deal with declining timber revenue. The measure, which will raise the district’s levy rate by 69 cents per $1,000 property valuation, needs only a simple majority to pass. It is passing with 344 votes in favor and 190 votes against.
— Voters were passing a Port Angeles city measure to impose a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax hike to generate an estimated $325,000 in revenue for new construction of affordable housing, rehabilitation of existing housing into affordable housing and construction of infrastructure required for affordable housing developments.
A simple majority is needed for approval.
That measure was passing with 1.850 votes in favor and 1,564 votes against.
If the measure is approved, the sales tax rate in Port Angeles will rise from the current 8.7 percent to 8.8 percent.
In measures involving both Clallam and Jefferson county voters:
— Sequim School Board incumbent Jim Stoffer, 59, retained his Position 3 seat against challenger Beth Smithson, 38.
Stoffer earned 4,534 votes to Smithson’s 3,099 votes. In Clallam County, Stoffer’s approval votes numbered 4,478, or 59.27 percent, while Smithson’s were 3,056, or 40.45 percent. In Jefferson County, Stoffer’s approval votes were 56, or 56.57 percent, to Smithson’s 43, or 43.43 percent.
— William ‘Bill’ Miano III, 48, was leading incumbent James Barnfather, 68, for the District 3 seat on the Clallam County Fire District 3 commission.
Miano had 4,288 votes to Barnfather’s 3,916 votes. Of Miano’s votes, 4,237, or 52.22 percent, were in Clallam County and 51 or 46.36 percent were in Jefferson County. Of Barnfather’s votes, 3,857, or 47.54 percent, were in Clallam County and 59, or 53.64 percent, were in Jefferson County.
— Clallam County Fire District 3, which serves residents in both Clallam and Jefferson counties, was easily winning a bid for a renewal of the emergency medical services levy through 2029.
The EMS levy voters renewed for 10 years in 2009 is due to expire in 2020.
That measure had 6,643 votes in favor and 2,456 votes against. Clallam votes approving the measure were 6,544, or 73.05 percent, and Jefferson County approval votes were 99, or 70.21 percent. Those opposing numbered 2,414, or 26.95 percent in Clallam County and 42, or 29.79 percent, in Jefferson County.
It needed a simple majority vote for approval.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
