PORT TOWNSEND — A second vote of ballots today 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 on Nov. 3.
Today’s noon count of the 472 ballots that came in after Election Night on 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 today’s 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.
About 100 votes are expected to arrive in the mail before the next count at about noon Friday, said Betty Johnson, Jefferson County election coordinator.
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 and Travis Keena will face off for Position 7, while Councilwoman Deborah Stinson (Position 3) and Councilman Robert Gray (Position 4) are unopposed in their bids for second terms.
Earlier story
PORT TOWNSEND — Amy Smith earned a significant plurality in the Port Townsend City Council Position 6 contest in initial primary returns tonight, while Paul Rice led Todd Wexman by 77 votes.
Smith, 33, drew 1,241 votes, or 56.61 percent, while Rice, 32, won 514 votes, or 23.38 percent, and Wexman, 77, had 437 votes, or 19.94 percent.
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office tonight counted 2,304 out of the 7,542 ballots mailed to registered voters for a voter turnout of 30.52 percent.
All ballots in hand were counted tonight. Elections officials expect another 250 would come in before the next count at about noon Friday.
Jefferson County Auditor Rose Ann Carroll said the election was too close to call.
According to Betty Johnson, election coordinator, Wexman would need to poll at least half of the remaining ballots and stay ahead of whatever votes Rice would accumulate to prevail.
The two top vote-getters will meet in the Nov. 3 election in a bid to succeed Mayor David King, who chose to not seek re-election.
The mayor will be selected by the new coucil in January.
Both Smith and Rice were surprised .
“I’m blown away,” Smith said.
“I expected that Paul and I would get about the same number of votes.”
Rice said that he was discouraged by the results — that the margin was so wide between himself and Smith and so narrow between himself and Wexman.
“I put in a lot of work and have a lot of people believing in me,” Rice said.
“This is shock. I expected it to be an even game between Amy and me.”
Rice said that he’s “not ready to give up and I intend to see this through to the end.”
Rice and Smith were on hand at the Jefferson County Courthouse during the vote totals announcement.
Wexman, who did not attend, also expected a different result.
“I figured that the two young people would split the vote and I would win,” Wexman said.
“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.”
Wexman is a retired architect. Smith is the executive director of the Boiler Room. Rice is the former owner of Middletown Dreams,a downtown bar that closed in June.
Three other City Council seats are at stake this year.
The only other contested race pits attorney David Faber, 32, against Port of Port Townsend employee Travis Keena, 38, to succeed Deputy Mayor Kris Nelson, who is not running for re-election.
Two incumbent members are unopposed in their bid for a second term, Bob Gray, 67, and Deborah Stinson, 59.
If Rice maintains his lead over Wexman it will guarantee the City Council’s two new members will be under 40.
Smith said this will change the balance of the council and provide representation to younger Port Townsend residents.
The present City Council has no member younger than 45, while four of the seven members are over age 60.
Anticipating a face off between herself and Rice, Smith said “unless Todd gets in, Position 6 will be filled by a tattooed, thirty-something Rush fan, one way or another.”
The four-year term will begin in January 2016 and end in January 2020.
Council members are compensated $500 a month while the mayor receives $750.
Ballots for the general election will be mailed Oct. 14.
In that election, there are two contested races on the Jefferson Healthcare Board of Directors; incumbents Chuck Russell and Mari Dressler are respectively challenged by Kees Kolff and Paul Stafford.
Incumbent Port of Port Townsend Commissioner Steve Tucker is challenged by Diane Talley.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
