FORKS — Olympic National Park ranger Jon Preston was leading Peninsula College student Christina Kohout in a race between political neophytes for Forks City Council, Position 5, as of Tuesday night.

Preliminary returns from the Clallam County Auditor’s Office showed Preston ahead of Kohout 132 votes to 82, or 61.68 percent to 38.32 percent.

The Clallam County Auditor’s Office counted 13,761 ballots on Tuesday night out of 47,481 mailed to registered voters, for a voter turnout of 29 percent in the all-mail election, Auditor Shoona Riggs said.

Another 3,998 ballots were processed but not counted Tuesday, and perhaps 2,000 to 3,000 more were placed in drop boxes and await processing, she said.

More ballots are likely to arrive in the mail. The next count will be by 4:30 p.m. Friday. Final results will be certified Nov. 24.

Neither Forks council candidate had run for public office, although Preston said, if he is elected, he will retain his position as chairman of Concerned Citizens, which provides services to special needs individuals who live in the West Ends of Clallam and Jefferson counties.

Recuse from conflicts

He said he would recuse himself from any City Council decisions regarding the agency whose clients include children with developmental disabilities, people who need in-home care, and people eligible for Concerned Citizens’ adult family home, employment assistance and retirement services.

Preston said he also would recuse himself from voting on issues involving Olympic National Park, where he has been a ranger at the Hoh Rain Forest for 14 years,

“Christina is a great person,” Preston, 56, said of his opponent, 32, adding he planned to invite her to join the Concerned Citizens board of directors.

He called his lead “a pretty fair margin.”

For her part, asked if she was glad she had run, “Oh, yes, I am,” she said.

“I’m not going to count myself out until all the ballots are in. And I’m not going to stop there.

“This is just my beginning in politics. Hopefully I can do big things for Forks and the state of Washington and maybe for our country.”

Kohout is an Air Force veteran who left the military after sustaining a service-related injury. Her husband is on active duty in Afghanistan.

Education, airplanes

In a campaign forum Oct. 21 at the Forks Chamber of Commerce, both candidates said they supported enhanced early childhood education opportunities in Forks.

As for the Navy’s proposal to fly EA-18G Growler jets on electronic warfare training missions over the North Olympic Peninsula, both said they thought noise from the flights was undesirable but that the flights were inevitable given the Navy’s need to train for electronic warfare.

Forks City Council members have no compensation.

They pass a general fund budget that for 2015 is $1.8 million and funds 28 full-time-equivalent positions, adopt ordinances, approve contracts and levy taxes.

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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.