PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Republican Party Central Committee has unanimously endorsed Bill Peach for District 3 county commissioner.

The group, which met May 19, decided not to endorse in the prosecuting attorney race.

Peach, a retired forester and Quillayute Valley Parks and Recreation District commissioner who lives in Forks, is one of three people, and the only Republican, running for the seat now held by Mike Doherty, who is not running for re-election.

District 3 covers the area of the county west of Valley Creek, extending from west Port Angeles to the West End.

Also on the ballot are Forks Mayor Bryon Monohon, who filed as an independent, and Sissi Bruch, a Port Angeles city councilwoman, who filed as a Democrat.

“We are very pleased to be represented by a candidate with Bill’s impressive qualifications, and we recommend him to the voters with full confidence that he will be an outstanding commissioner,” said GOP county Chairman Dick Pilling.

The Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney race pits Will Payne, who was appointed in January to serve the last year on retired Prosecutor Deborah Kelly’s four-year term, against fellow Republican Mark Nichols.

Nichols, the county’s half-time hearings examiner, was a longtime chief civil deputy in the office before he was promoted to acting prosecutor when Kelly resigned Dec. 31.

Pilling said the central committee unanimously directed him to inform the media and the electorate that “as a party, we are pleased to have two excellent candidates and confidently recommend them to the voters, whose decision we trust.”

The group will consider other endorsements at its Monday meeting, Pilling said.

The central committee consists of precinct committee officers and the chairman, vice chairman, secretary, state committeeman and state committeewoman.