PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles didn’t lose, even though it came in second to Chattanooga, Tenn., in Outside magazine’s hotly battled online contest to determine the nation’s “Best Town Ever” for 2015.

“I could not be prouder of the town right now,” said Lesley Robertson, founder of Revitalize Port Angeles, a Facebook group with more than 1,100 members that was the primary mover in getting out the vote for Port Angeles.

“People have been saying for days that we’ve already won.

“We won days ago. We won weeks ago. When we all decided to come together to do this, we won.”

The final tally announced Thursday night in the contest that began May 4 gave Port Angeles 62,130 votes, or 47.95 percent of the ballots cast by the public.

Chattanooga — which calls itself the “Scenic City” and the “River City” — got 67,432 votes, or 52.05 percent

“People came together in a way that I didn’t even think was possible — and I’m an optimist,” said Robertson, interviewed at a post-contest party for Port Angeles boosters in the newly opened Fanaticus restaurant on First Street.

“We have figured out that this place is really, really, really cool — and we got to tell the world about this.

“There are thousands more people who now know about this place who didn’t know about it before.”

People want to visit PA

Many people commenting on the Outside website said they planned to visit after seeing photographs of the natural beauty of the Port Angeles area and Olympic National Park. Port Angeles is the gateway town to the national park.

Robertson said she already has heard of area inns and bed and breakfasts getting calls from people booking trips.

Thursday night’s party at Fanaticus was a true celebration, Robertson said.

“We’re celebrating the fact that we live in one of the most incredible places on earth, and we have the chance to celebrate that together,” she said.

“We’re talking about how we have to take this positive energy and make use of it.

“We’ve all realized what is possible if we work together.”

PA the western champion

One of four last-minute wild-card entries, Port Angeles won five rounds in a 64-city tournament modeled on the NCAA-style “March Madness” elimination contest before going up against against Chattanooga, the Southern Division winner and a former national winner of the annual Outside contest.

The contest seemed mismatched — Port Angeles, with a population of 19,000 up against the Tennessee city of 170,000.

But Port Angeles — which garnered more than three times its population in votes against the popular Southern city — showed itself to be the Little Town That Could.

It wears the crown as the contest’s Western Division champ, and it will be profiled — along with Chattanooga and 14 other finalists — in the September issue of Outside, a nationally recognized outdoor and adventure magazine.

Fans of Port Angeles outperformed voters backing Santa Barbara, Calif., our sibling city in Kitsap County, Bainbridge Island; Glenwood Springs, Colo.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; and Bar Harbor, Maine in the contest.

Signs urging residents to vote for their town went up all over — on business readerboards, windows and restaurant tables — as organizations ranging from the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce to Black Ball Ferry Line promoted voting.

Lots of support

Support also came from outside town.

Gov. Jay Inslee, the Sequim-bred Emblem3 band, U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, and Congressman Derek Kilmer — a Port Angeles native — tweeted their support.

Western Washington University called for votes on its Facebook page, and the Seahawks called on people to vote for Port Angeles.

Over the past month, visitors to Outside’s website cast more than 1.5 million votes over the multiple rounds in the ‘Best Town Ever’ competition.

Chattanooga, a city of 170,000 whose recreational attributes include its proximity to scenic Lookout Mountain, also took top honors in the competition in 2011.

Criteria for choosing the Best Towns include “top-notch restaurants, vibrant farmers’ markets, friendly neighborhoods, and unparalleled access to hiking and biking trails. In short, the perfect jumping-off point for adventure,” according to the Outside magazine’s editors.

________

Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or at leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com