PORT TOWNSEND — With Judge Mark Huth bowing out a third term on the bench, the first candidate in the race for Jefferson County District Court judge is a Clallam County deputy prosecutor.

Jill Landes, a former deputy prosecutor in Jefferson County who left three years ago to become a deputy prosecutor in Clallam County, said she will file initial papers this week in the contest to replace Huth.

Landes said the objectivity demanded by the job of a prosecutor is the same required of a judge.

“I didn’t always want to be a prosecutor necessarily, but I always wanted to be a judge,” she said.

“It’s a carry-over, a natural step.”

John R. “Johnny” Hynson, a general practice lawyer in Port Townsend, also said Friday he is also “seriously considering” entering the race.

Both Hynson and Landes said they would not have thought about running if Huth wasn’t going to run again.

“I wouldn’t consider it in a thousand years,” Hynson said.