Incumbent Laura Dubois and challenger John Miller lead in the race for Sequim City Council position No. 2, following initial primary election results released Tuesday evening.

Dubois leads with 747 of the 1,432 votes tallied – about 52.2 percent.

Miller is second with 471 votes, or about 33 percent of votes cast.

Challenger Ron Fairclough looks like the odd candidate out after receiving 214 votes (15 percent).

“I was hoping I’d do a little better,” Fairclough said, noting he plans to continue being involved improving the city.

“I really feel like I have good ideas for Sequim,” Fairclough said.

Dubois is seeking reelection for the first time after earning her council seat in 2007.

“You never want to get too confident,” Dubois said after seeing Tuesday night’s results.

“I think people are pleased with how we’ve been doing the last four years,” she said. “We have a downtown plan in place … and we have been working on a comprehensive plan update.”

Dubois said she expects traffic to be a big issue for the general election, which is set for Nov. 8.

Miller said he was pleasantly surprised with Tuesday evening’s results.

“I thought I’d do pretty good; I’m pretty overwhelmed at this point,” he said.

Miller said a key issue for the general election will be simply how city councilors are spending tax dollars.

“Are we getting what we’re paying for?” Miller asked rhetorically.

The first-time challenger said city leaders should be more vocal and honest about what they’re doing for its citizens.

“People should be told what’s going on,” Miller said. “I’m just going to be honest.”

As for topping Dubois in the general election, Miller said he’s got work to do.

“Now I’ve got to step it up as far as door-belling,” he said.

McEntire holds edge in commissioner primary

The numbers mean little as both candidates advance to the general election, but Republican Jim McEntire tallied 4,370 votes in Tuesday night’s primary election count, or about 56.5 percent, as he holds a lead over Democrat Linda Barnfather (3,357 votes, 43.5 percent).

Turnout, ballot counts

A total of 7,787 votes were counted in the primary election out of 19,092 registered voters – 40 percent voter turnout.

 County officials estimated another 500 ballots are left to count. The next update is Friday, Aug. 19.

Primary results are certified on Aug. 31.