Thursday afternoon’s tabulation of about 2,000 additional primary election ballots provided a slightly clearer picture of which candidates will advance to the November General Election, but didn’t shift standings in any of the races.
Grays Harbor County Auditor Joe Maclean said Thursday afternoon that it was not likely that more than 500 ballots remained left to count, meaning any remaining ballots will be counted on certification day Aug. 15. The Grays Harbor County Auditor’s website estimates there are about 10 ballots left to count.
Tuesday’s initial round of election results — about 5,100 ballots — left the Aberdeen mayor’s race nearly neck-and-neck, with all three candidates separated by a 39-vote spread, and Douglas Orr leading the pack, followed by Debi Pieraccini. That gap widened Thursday as Orr doubled his vote leads over Pieraccini, and Pieraccini padded her edge over Shaw by a handful of votes, leaving Shaw 27 votes behind the second General Election spot.
About 2,500 ballots had been tabulated for the Aberdeen mayor’s race by Thursday afternoon. That wasn’t, however, the race with the most participation from voters. The two races for North Beach School Board took that honor, with about 2,900 ballots cast in each.
Results generally stayed the same in both cases: incumbent Jeff Albertson holds a sizeable lead in the District 1 race over Rickie Day, who has gained 23% of the vote and holds a 60-vote lead over Francelle Jordan. In the District 4 race, incumbent Jessica Iliff fell even farther away from regaining her school board seat. She trails with 11% of the vote behind leader Joe Lomedico, at 49%, and Halvar Olstead, at 38%.
The next most popular race of the primary was for Ocean Shores City Council Position 4. Caroline Emmert still holds an edge over Jennifer Herboldsheimer by 41 votes for the second general election spot, while Alison Cline holds a big lead with over half of the vote.
In the race for Aberdeen City Council Ward 6, Position 12, Sydney Newbill and Bessie Jones are separated by two votes. Since Tuesday, the gap doubled between Jones’ second spot and candidate Nehemiah Vastinsalo, who trails by about 60 votes.
Not much has shifted since Tuesday in Westport’s five-candidate race for mayor, as Edward Welter and Greg Barnes remain in front of the pack with 45% and 32% of the vote, respectively. They are trailed by Michael Bruce, 100 votes behind, Rose Jensen and Brennan Jarnes.
In Westport’s City Council Position 5 race, Darcia Davis and Kathryn Franzen hold the top two spots. After Tuesday, Trina Packard needed 30 votes to close the gap to reach the second spot, but has now fallen 51 votes behind Franzen. Jim Lang and Brylie Jarnes follow with 11% and 6% of the vote, respectively.
Voters in Elma have voted 60% in favor of the city of Elma’s police services levy, which needs a simple majority to pass. The levy will fund staff and services for 2024.
In total, 7,366 ballots have been tabulated so far in Grays Harbor’s 2023 Primary Election. Grays Harbor County has about 22,000 registered voters, yielding a current voter turnout of 33%.
Contact reporter Clayton Franke at 406-552-3917 or clayton.franke@thedailyworld.com.
