Election 2026: primary’s early results see Bernbaum and Pratt, Kelbon and Keuhn leading House races

Published 11:00 pm Tuesday, August 4, 2026

For the Aug. 4 primary election, Clallam County has seen returns for ballots from 20% of registered voters (11,787 of 59,842) so far, according to the Secretary of State’s website on Tuesday night.

The next tally was expected to be updated by 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Bernbaum, Pratt and Kelbon, Keuhn lead state House races

Adam Bernbaum and Eric W. Pratt were the leading candidates for a state House of Representatives position after initial primary election results were tallied Tuesday night.

Bernbaum, a Democrat who currently holds the 24th Legislative District seat, was leading with 62.86 percent of the vote (16,443 votes) while Pratt, a Republican, had 20.99 percent (5,490 votes). Both will advance to the Nov. 3 general election.

The Position 1 seat is contested in Clallam, Jefferson and Grays Harbor counties.

Bernbaum was leading in all three counties, including 76.47 percent in Jefferson County.

Aiden I.R. Hamilton, a Republican, had 9.81 percent (2,567 votes) and Ted Bowen had 6.28 percent (1,643 votes).

In the Position 2 seat, Marcia Kelbon and Kaylee Kuehn were the top two vote-getters, with Patrick DePoe sitting in a close third place.

Kelbon, an Independent, had 35.94 percent of the vote (9,133 votes) while Kuehn, a Democrat, had 29.31 percent (7,448 votes) and DePoe, a Democrat, had 22.22 percent (5,646 votes).

The top two will advance to the Nov. 3 general election in a bid to replace the retiring state Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Port Townsend.

Mark Hodgson, a Democrat, had 7.46 percent (1,896 votes) and Bradley Nemo Callaway, a Democrat, had 4.59 percent (1,166 votes).

Kelbon and Kuehn earned the top two spots in Clallam, Jefferson and Grays Harbor counties, although Kuehn led all candidates in Jefferson County with 33.47 percent of the vote.

Randall, Fox advance in race for Congressional seat

Emily Randall and Teresa Fox have advanced to the Nov. 3 general election in the 6th Congressional District race after initial primary results Tuesday night.

Randall, a Democrat who currently holds the seat, totaled 60.24 percent of the vote across portions of six counties (74,078 votes). Fox, a Republican, had 25.12 percent (30,892 votes).

The district represents Clallam and Jefferson counties as well as Grays Harbor, Kitsap, Mason and Pierce counties.

Also running in the race were Leon Lawson, a Trump Republican who had 9.32 percent (11,462 votes), Brian P. O’Gorman, an Independent who had 3.06 percent (3,762 votes) and Macy Jones, who had no party preference and had 2.20 percent (2,707 votes).

Randall was the top vote-getter in all six counties. The closest races were in Grays Harbor County, where Randall had 48.95 percent (4,325 votes) to Fox’s 24.55 percent (2,169 votes), and in Mason County, where Randall had 49.0 percent (4,476 votes) to Fox’s 28.67 percent (2,619 votes).

Supreme Court positions

Sequim voters also voted for candidates of the Supreme Court.

For position No. 1, Colleen Melody with 51.2% (494,627) of the vote and Scott Edwards with 30.3% (292,849) will move onto the primary, while for position No. 3, the three candidates are in a close race with David Stevens leading with 35.8% (344,413), followed by Jaime Michelle Hawk with 32.9% (316,702), and Mike Diaz with 30.9% (297,689).

In the position No. 5 race, Theo Angelis and Dave Larson appear to be going to the general election with 34.2% (329,585 votes) and 32.6% (313,906). Sharonda Amamilo is in third with 21.2% (204,101.

For position no. 7, Debra Stephens leads by a large margin with 54.5% (521,514) followed by Todd A. Bloom at 27.5% (262,838).

Other Clallam County races

Rick Paschall and Randy Brackett were the top two candidates for a Clallam County Public Utility District seat as initial returns in the primary election were posted Tuesday night.

Paschall, the former District 2 PUD commissioner who resigned in 2023, was leading the District 2 race at 41.99 percent (1,306 votes), and Brackett, a professional engineer, had 31.22 percent (971 votes). John W. “Jack” Smith was sitting third at 10.06 percent (313 votes), while Timothy Dalton had 8.52 percent (265 votes) and Missi Baker had 7.94 percent (247 votes).

For Clallam County commissioner, Jake Seegers, an Independent, was leading incumbent Democrat Mike French with 52.08 percent of the vote (1,402 votes). French had 47.66 percent (1,283 votes). Both will advance to the Nov. 3 general election for the District 3 seat.

Meanwhile, the Clallam County Fire District 2 Proposition 1, which seeks a 10-year emergency medical services levy at a rate of $0.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value, was being rejected. In a measure that requires a 60 percent supermajority to pass as a new EMS levy, Proposition 1 had received 55.18 percent (682 votes) to 44.82 percent (554 votes).

Two Democratic precinct committee officer positions also are on the primary ballot. Judith M. Morris was leading Bradley Nemo Callaway for the Port Angeles 101 position with 65.38 percent of the vote (68 votes) to 34.62 percent (36 votes). Brenda S. Carpenter was leading Brian Pruiett for the Blue Mountain 209 position with 77.65 percent of the vote (66 votes) to 22.35 percent (19 votes).