SEQUIM — After the first count of ballots, Heather Short took more than half of the vote, and William Payne held a strong lead to become her opponent over Charles Meyer in the primary for Sequim School Board director position 5 after the first ballot count Tuesday.
Short received 3,520 votes, or 56.87 percent, while Payne had 1,532 votes, or 24.75 percent, and appeared to be headed to the Nov. 3 general election.
Meyer trailed with 1,138 votes, or 18.38 percent.
There were 6,190 votes counted in the first tally, including district voters in both Jefferson and Clallam counties.
The two candidates who get the most votes when the elections are certified Aug. 18 will move on to the Nov. 3 general election.
On Tuesday night, the Clallam County Auditor’s Office counted 11,457 out of the 43,544 ballots mailed to registered voters for a voter turnout of 26.32 percent.
Auditor Shoona Riggs said the office has about 2,000 on hand that were not counted.
She expects between 1,000 and 2,000 more to arrive this week.
Current board member Walter Johnson is completing a four-year term and chose not to run for re-election.
Short was at the Clallam County courthouse Tuesday evening to see the first election results.
“It’s pretty incredible,” she said of her strong lead in her first ever election.
Short, 38, is a veterinarian and owner of Sequim Animal Hospital.
She said her campaign for the general election will begin with a get-out-the-vote effort and will work toward the passage of the Sequim School District’s $49.3 million construction bond.
The school bond will also be on the November ballot.
If the measure garners a 60 percent supermajority — the amount needed for passage — the bond money would go toward building a new elementary school, renovating and expanding four existing facilities, and demolishing a fifth one.
Payne said he was working through election night and responded from his office.
“The race is on,” Payne said of the his plans for the run-up to the general election.
Like Short, Payne said he also supports the school bond.
“Our schools are in terrible shape,” he said.
Payne, 58, is an attorney and has served as the appointed Clallam County prosecuting attorney.
He was defeated in two previous attempts to run for office — for Clallam County prosecuting attorney in 2014 and for Clallam County Superior Court judge in 2012.
Meyer said he had seen the early results of the initial primary vote and did not hold out much hope for a recovery.
“I would like to congratulate both of them on making the primary,” he said.
Meyer, 64, is a retired chief of an organization within the National Security Agency.
He has never before run for public office and said he is available to the school board as a volunteer as needed.
Sequim School District director positions have four-year terms with a maximum annual compensation of $4,800.
Director Seat 1
Although there were four candidates on the ballot for the school board director position 1, two candidates dropped out after the deadline to remove their names from the ballot.
The two remaining candidates were neck-and-neck Tuesday, with less than one percentage point between them.
Incumbent Heather Jeffers received 1,808 votes, or 35.87 percent of the vote and Robin Henrickson had 1,777 votes, or 35.26 percent of votes.
Jeffers and Henrickson will both appear on the ballot for the Nov. 3 general election.
There were 5,040 votes cast in the race, including votes from both Clallam and Jefferson counties.
Jeffers was appointed to the position in August 2014 to fill the unexpired term of Sarah Bedinger, who resigned in June that year.
Despite their withdrawal from the race, Rebecca Bratsman and Willard Naslund each received votes.
Bratsman had 653 votes, or 12.96 percent, and Naslund had 802 votes, or 15.91 percent of the vote.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
