PORT TOWNSEND — Republican Jim Boyer and incumbent John Austin, a Democrat, will face each other on the November ballot for a Jefferson County commission seat, and a proposed fire levy increase in Port Townsend failed by more than 54 percent.
Those are the results of the Jefferson County Auditor’s count Thursday of outstanding ballots from the Tuesday primary election, which were announced at noon.
The count of 2,017 ballots Thursday changed no election outcomes from Tuesday’s tally.
Port Ludlow home-builder Boyer, 64, received the highest number of votes in the primary race for the District 3 county commissioner seat. He had a total of 2,077 votes, or 47.31 percent.
Austin, 69, also of Port Ludlow, received 1,230 votes, or 28.02 percent. He is seeking a second term for the job, which pays $63,926 a year.
Quilcene psychotherapist Diane Johnson, a Democrat, placed third in the commissioner race with 1,083 votes, or 24.67 percent, and has been eliminated.
The top-two primary race narrowed the field to the two candidates who received the most votes. Those two, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the Nov. 2 general election.
The primary race for the commissioners’ seat was held only within District 3 which covers southeast Jefferson County — Port Ludlow, Gardiner, Quilcene,
Brinnon — as well as westerly to the Pacific Coast and includes the Hoh, Kalaloch and Queets communities.
Voters throughout the county will decide the general election race for the commissioner seat.
Voters quashed a proposed property tax increase that would have raised the city levy rate for fire services by 43 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
The measure, presented only to voters within the Port Townsend city limit, lost with 1,951 votes, or 54.77 percent, opposed to 1,611 votes, or 43.25 percent, in favor.
As of Thursday, the Jefferson County Auditor had counted 12,352 ballots, or 56.91 percent of the 2,1704 mailed to registered voters.
Eighty-five ballots are left uncounted.
Those will be tallied at 3 p.m. Friday.
