PORT TOWNSEND — Which challenger will face Port of Port Townsend incumbent Dave Thompson in the Nov. 3 general election should be known after a recount of primary election votes Tuesday.
A tally of remaining Aug. 18 primary election votes Wednesday morning narrowed to five votes Bob Schuessler’s lead over David Whipple as the challenger against Thompson, a 66-year-old Port Townsend shipwright, in the port District 2 race.
The votes cast in the primary election will be recounted by machine at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, said Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge.
After Wednesday’s results, Whipple said he was taken aback by the election that has stretched on.
“We’ll just wait until the results Tuesday,” said the 48-year-old educator and consultant. “This is just the election that won’t end.”
Schuessler, a 66-year-old retired harbormaster, shared similar sentiments.
“I don’t have a thing to say until the final results,” he said Tuesday.
After the previous count of votes, Schuessler had a seven-vote lead, with 551 votes, or 25.19 percent, to Whipple’s 546, or 24.97 percent.
Questionable ballots
After 17 ballots were tabulated Wednesday morning, and the Jefferson County Canvassing Board approved eight of 13 questionable ballot signatures, Schuessler’s tally was unchanged, but Whipple picked up two votes.
The five-vote lead dropped Schuessler’s margin of victory to .455 of a percent, which is just below the half-percent threshold of win required under state law for a recount.
The election was certified Wednesday, but the recount would be the final word on who challenges Thompson, who seeks a second term with the port commissioners.
Thompson carries a commanding lead in the race with 1,062 votes or 48.56 percent, picking up five votes after the initial results Aug. 18.
The primary election was for the purpose of narrowing the candidates for the general election, with the top two vote-getters to be on the November ballot.
Incumbent District 3 Commissioner Herb Beck, a 71-year-old Quilcene farmer retired from Keyport Naval Center and the longest-standing port commissioner in the state, will face Leif Erickson in the general election after Douglas Breithaupt was eliminated in the primary race.
Beck’s vote tally grew by six votes Wednesday to 1,709, or 64.42 percent.
Erickson had 496 votes, or 18.70 percent. Erickson, Townsend Bay Marine’s production manager, received one additional vote in Wednesday’s count.
Primary elections in the races for two port seats were held because three candidates ran for each seat. The top two primary narrows the candidates to the two who will face each other in the Nov. 3 election.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.