Results for Grays Harbor County’s 2023 primary election were approved Tuesday evening by the Secretary of State’s office, with an estimated 77% of ballots tabulated at 8:33 p.m. Races across the county for local government, school board and fire commissioner positions will see the top two leading candidates advance to November’s general election.
Grays Harbor County Auditor Joe Maclean said Wednesday morning about 1,700 ballots remain to be counted throughout the county. That number does not include those submitted in ballot boxes Tuesday. Maclean said Wednesday morning he collected 60 additional ballots from Aberdeen’s downtown ballot box, and still needed to collect from boxes at the YMCA and in Ocean Shores.
His office can’t finalize election outcomes until certification day on Aug. 15. The next tabulation will be conducted Thursday, Aug. 3 at 4 p.m.
Aberdeen mayor
The race for Aberdeen’s next mayor is the tightest on the ballot, with three candidates each separated by 1% of the vote. Douglas Orr holds an 18-vote lead over Debi Ann Pieraccini, while Dee Anne Shaw trails the pack 21 votes behind Pieraccini.
“I’m not quite sure how to feel, I think I’m waiting for Friday,” Shaw said Wednesday morning. “I’m just glad it’s a close race. People have free, clear choices.”
Pieraccini noted the atypical nature of a primary election with three candidates separated by a slim margin. “It’s definitely going to be an anxiety-filled couple of days,” Pieraccini said.
Westport mayor
In Westport’s crowded mayoral race, in which five candidates are vying for the position, Edward Welter and Greg Barnes hold significant leads over the pack, with 45.5% and 31% of the vote, respectively.
“I would have been more encouraged if I was the person in the lead, of course you hope that,” Barnes said.
“But I’m encouraged, pleased,” he continued. “I want to thank the other candidates that ran. I think it made it an interesting race. I think it sharpened all of us and made us work a little bit harder.”
They’re trailed by Michael Bruce, who holds 15.5% of the vote, Rose Jensen, with 4.5% of the vote, and Brennan Jarnes, with 3% of the vote.
Jensen, a current member of the Westport city council, congratulated Welter and Barnes.
“Of course I’m disappointed, but my job has been and will always be to make decisions that benefit all of Westport, and I will continue to do that until my time as a council person is up,” Jensen said.
Aberdeen city council
In the race for Aberdeen City Council Ward 6, Position 12, 279 votes were counted in that race as of Tuesday evening. Sydney Newbill leads with 39% of the vote, followed by Bessie Jones at 35% of the vote, and Nehemiah Vastinsalo at 25% of the vote and needing 29 votes to catch Jones.
“I am humbled, excited, and ready to talk to more people,”Newbill said Wednesday morning.
Ocean Shores city council
In Ocean Shores, incumbent Alison Cline holds a strong lead in the race for Position 4 on the city council, with 54% voting in her favor. “I was very happy to see the primary go the way it did, and I was thrilled to see I have the support that I have,” Cline said Wednesday morning. Despite already holding a seat on the council, this is Cline’s first election, as she was voted in by a city council vote last year, rather than one on the ballot.
“Now just moving forward, we’ll see what happens,” she said.
Caroline Emmert and Jennifer Herboldsheimer are battling to advance to the general election, as Emmert holds a 30-vote lead — roughly 2% — over Herboldsheimer.
Herboldsheimer, a native of England, stayed optimistic Wednesday morning about remaining ballot counts, and the votes she’s already received.
“Considering I’ve only been in the country for just over six years and I’ve only been a citizen for two years, and this is my first run at anything political, I’m really pleased with the votes I’ve had so far. For a first-timer, it’s fantastic,” she said.
Westport city council
In the race for Westport’s Position 5 on the city council, 385 votes have been tabulated as of Tuesday evening among five people buying for the position. Darcia Davis and Kathryn Franzen lead and are separated by less than 1% of the vote. Trina Packard is third at 21%, Jim Lang and Brylie Jarnes follow with 10% and 9% of the vote, respectively.
“I feel honored and grateful our community is behind me like this,” Davis said Wednesday.
Packard needs 30 votes to close the gap between her and the second general election spot. “I just hope the ballots that haven’t been counted are in my favor,” Packard said Wednesday. She added that she was glad to see younger people running for city council in Westport. “Either way it will work out pretty well.”
North Beach School Board
Two positions on the North Beach School Board were on the primary election ballot. In the District 1 race, incumbent and current board president Jeff Albertson has a strong lead with 60% of the vote. Rickie Day holds the second spot with 22% of the vote, while Francelle Jordan trails Day at 16.6% of the vote.
Results for North Beach’s position 4 show Joe Lomedico and Halvar Olstead with a big lead over incumbent Jessica Iliff. Lomedico holds almost 50% of the vote, and Olstead 38%, while Iliff trails Olstead by nearly 500 votes at 12%.
“What a great night,” Lomedico said in an email Wednesday morning. “There are still a few ballots to be counted, but it’s the top two that go on to the general election, so I feel pretty good.”
He added: “Now to everyone who has supported me, it’s time to go to work. Last night was about what we no longer want, but now we need to work for what we want.”
Olstead, who hasn’t actively campaigned for the District 4 position other than pasting a sign on his car, said he’s in the process of developing a campaign strategy.
“It looks like I survived the primary,” Olstead said Wednesday. “I’m a little scared I might actually win.”
Elma police levy
An annual levy to fund services and staff of the Elma Police Department for 2024 has 59.85% of the vote. The levy requires a simple majority to pass, according to Grays Harbor County Elections Administrator Scott Turnbull.
Another ballot tabulation will occur on Aug. 3 at 4 p.m. If more than 500 ballots remain to be counted after Thursday, another count will be held Tuesday, Aug. 8, but otherwise remaining ballots will be counted on certification day, according to Maclean.
Contact reporter Clayton Franke at 406-552-3917 or clayton.franke@thedailyworld.com.
