Incumbents Mark Ozias of the Clallam County commission and Sequim School Board director Jim Stoffer were reelected while challenger Bill Miano upended an incumbent for a Clallam Fire District 3 commissioner seat in the Nov. 5 general election.
Voters also handily approved renewal of Clallam County Fire District 3’s emergency medical services levy through 2029.
With four Sequim City Council candidates running unopposed — incumbent Jennifer States later had an official write-in challenger, Sarah W. Kincaid, but retained her position with 85 percent of ballots cast — there were few Sequim-area races on the ballot.
Among them, Olympic Medical Center commission candidate Anne Marie Henninger won a seat against Nate Adkisson with nearly 65 percent of the vote.
Challenger J. Mike Rudd won the Position 5 seat on the county Park and Recreation District 1 (Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center) board against incumbent Jan L. Richardson.
Miano edged out two-time incumbent James Barnfather for the fire commission position, while Stoffer won handily over first-time challenger Beth Smithson to retain his school board seat.
Ozias, a Democrat, retained his District 1 seat in his race against challenger Brandon Janisse, a Republican and Sequim city councilor, with about 54 percent of ballots cast.
Outcomes in all races in Clallam County remained the same from election night on Nov. 5 to after the count on Nov. 9; a count was conducted on Saturday because the office would be closed Monday for Veterans Day, Clallam County Auditor Shoona Riggs said.
The auditor’s office announced a voter turnout of 48.35 percent on Nov. 9, saying that some of the 26,057 ballots received out of the 53,887 provided registered voters had not been counted yet.
The office received more than 10,000 ballots on Nov. 5, Election Day, Riggs said.
Another count was set in each county for Tuesday, Nov. 12, and the election will be certified on Nov. 26.
Charter Review selections
• In Charter Review Commission races, in which voters select five per district from a field of candidates:
David Lotzgesell (14.4 percent), Jim Stoffer (12.3), Sue Erzen (12.2), Ted Miller (11.7) and Candace Pratt (11.6) won seats in District 1;
Ron Cameron (11.3 percent), Norma E. Turner (9.5), Mary Doherty (8.2), Patti Morris (7.9), and Nina Richards (7.2) won positions in District 2, and,
Rod Fleck (12.2 percent), Andrew T. May (10.7), Brian Hunter (10.2), Therese Stokan (9.4) and Joseph Murray (9.1) earned District 3 charter review positions.
Statewide general election results:
• Initiative 976, which would limit annual license fees for vehicles weighing under 10,000 pounds at $30 (except voter-approved charges), earned voter approval with 996,083 yes votes (about 53 percent); Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, however, said the city will file a lawsuit to block the initiative.
In Clallam County, approved the initiative with 12,694 votes (50.75 percent) to 12,572 (49.25 percent).
• Referendum 88, regarding Initiative 1000 defining affirmative action, was being rejected by voters by a slight margin (50.4-49.6). A rejection of the referendum would block the initiative from going into effect, thereby continuing to restrict the state from implementing certain affirmative action policies in public employment, education and contracting.
In Clallam County, voters rejected the referendum 55-45 percent.
Clallam County Auditor Shoona Riggs examines a scanned ballot on a computer screen during a Nov. 9 ballot count at the Clallam County Courthouse in Port Angeles. Photo by Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News
