PORT ANGELES — Incumbent Republican Clallam County Commissioner Bill Peach and Democrat Mike Doherty Jr. will advance to the Nov. 6 general election, along with District Court 1 judge candidates Dave Neupert and Suzanne Hayden after the initial count of primary ballots tonight.
There were 19,122 ballots counted out of 51,833 provided to registered voters for a 36.89 percent turnout.
More ballots will be counted by 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Doherty won 1,937 votes, or 48.06 percent, to to the 1,804 votes, or 44.76 percent won by Peach, who is seeking his second term as West End-Port Angeles-area commissioner.
Doherty is a former four-term county commissioner who did not seek re-election to the four-year seat in 2014.
Dale Wilson, who registered with no party preference, had 289 votes, or 7.17 percent.
In the other county contested primary race with a direct effect on the general election, Neupert, a Peninsula Housing Authority lawyer and judge pro-tem, was on his way to joining Hayden, a Clallam Public Defender juvenile-law lawyer, as general election foes for Port Angeles-area District Court 1 judge.
Neupert, a former candidate for Superior Court Judge, had 7,605 votes, or 48.43 percent, to 5,294 votes, or 33.71 percent for Hayden.
Lawyer Pam Lindquist, in her second bid for the District Court 1 position, was coming in third with 2,805 votes, or 17.86 percent for the four-year seat.
In the primary for the 6th District congressional seat held by four-term incumbent Derek Kilmer, a Port Angeles native, Kilmer, a Democrat living in Gig Harbor, was on his way to the general election along with Republican Douglas Dightman of Shelton. Districtwide, Kilmer had 73,604 votes, or 64.18 percent, to Dightman’s 37,161 votes or 32.04 percent.
Progressive Party candidate Tyler Myles Vega of Tacoma came in third with 3,912 votes, or 3.41 percent, districtwide.
In Clallam County, Kilmer won 11,074 votes, or 59.22 percent, while Dightman won 7,114 votes, or 38.04 percent.
In Jefferson County, Kilmer won 7,867 votes or 68.87 percent, while Dightman won 2,924 votes,or 25.6 percent.
Partisan races appeared on the primary ballot no matter how many candidates had filed for the seat. The races also will be on the general election ballot.
Incumbent, one-term Republican county Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols had 9,982 votes, or 56.85 percent, to the 7,578 votes, or 43.15 percent, for nonpracticing lawyer and former county Treasurer Selinda Barkhuis.
Four-term incumbent 24th District state Rep. Steve Tharinger of Sequim, the Position 2 Democrat, had 21,804 votes, or 59.97 percent, to the 14,553 votes, or 40.03 percent, won by former Clallam County Commissioner Jim McEntire of Sequim, a Republican, districtwide in tonight’s initial count.
In Clallam County, totals were 10,484 votes, or 56.28 percent, for Tharinger and 8,143 votes, or 43.72 percent, for McEntire.
In Jefferson County, the totals were 7,802 votes, or 70.12 percent for Tharinger and 3,324 votes, or 29.88 percent, for McEntire.
One-term incumbent 24th District state Rep. Mike Chapman of Port Angeles, the Position 1 Democrat, had 22,585 votes, or 61.48 percent, compared to Republican challenger Jodi Wilke of Port Townsend, who had 14,150 votes, or 38.52 percent districtwide.
In Clallam County, totals were 11,090 votes, or 59.16 percent, for Chapman and 7,656 votes, or 40.84 percent, for Wilke.
In Jefferson County, the totals were 7,914 votes, or 70.13 percent, for Chapman and 3,396 votes, or 29.87 percent, for Wilke.
The 24th District includes Clallam and Jefferson counties and the northern half of Grays Harbor County.
Positions 1 and 2 are two-year seats.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell of Seattle, seeking her fourth six-year term, faced 28 candidates in the primary, including four other Democrats and 13 Republicans.
Cantwell took 570,120 votes, or 55.74 percent, to her closest challenger, Republican Susan Hutchison’s 244,925 votes, or 23.83 percent, in the initial count.
In Clallam County, the totals were 9,732, or 52.76 percent, for Cantwell while Hutchison won 5,209 votes, or 28.24 percent.
In Jefferson County, the totals were 7,410 votes, or 65.73 percent, for Cantwell, and 2,194 votes, or 19.46 percent, for Hutchison.