OLYMPIA — Mike Chapman was leading the 24th Legislative District state Senate race over Marcia Kelbon in initial ballot results Tuesday night.
Chapman, D-Port Angeles, had about 56.5 percent of the vote while Kelbon, R-Quilcene, had 43.5 percent.
Neither candidate was declaring the race over on Wednesday.
“Clallam, Jefferson and Grays Harbor auditors and their staff do a great job,” Chapman said. “We’ll get some more votes today, (Thursday) and Friday. I think by Friday, we’ll have a really clear picture where everything kind of lands.”
Chapman said he was excited to see such strong turnouts in Clallam County, Jefferson County and Grays Harbor County.
“It looks like Jefferson County will be leading the state in turnout,” he said. “Clallam County looks like it’s going to be top five, if not three, in turnout.”
Chapman commended those responsible for counting the ballots.
“Hats off and a lot of credit goes to the folks who process all of the ballots. They do such a good and efficient job, really secure,” Chapman said. “It was really nice to see the count come in at a good clip last night.”
Kelbon noted the contrast between state and national outcomes in this election.
“Interesting, it appears as though there’s sort of a dichotomy between our state and the nation, which is the most striking thing with respect to this particular race,” she said.
Kelbon said she has enough faith in the process that she wants to wait till the end of the week before calling the race definitively.
“We have roughly 27 percent of the vote that’s already in, remaining to be counted,” she said. “Plus, people that would have dropped ballots in the dropbox the last couple of days. I respect the process enough, I want to see both of those processed before I call anything there.”
Chapman said bringing infrastructure to the Olympic Peninsula has been a big part of what he’s heard is valued, in his engagement with the public.
“We live on the end of the world. You can’t go much further west, and you certainly can’t go much further than the Makah Nation,” he said. “We are vulnerable. I think people appreciate that we put resources into our public infrastructure.”
Chapman said schools and hospitals are a major focus that he will bring to his work in the state Senate.
Another focus will be to protect the Elwha River and watershed.
“I’m gonna do everything I can to protect that watershed, to protect that source of drinking water, and protect that very sensitive area,” Chapman said. “Look, we log out here. There’s a lot of wood that comes out of the woods, a lot of wood that gets on ships and is shipped overseas, and a lot of wood that ends up in our mills. Logging in the Elwha watershed just makes no sense to me, with glaciers receding, with climate change, and the fact that it’s the source of water for 25 percent of the population for Clallam County. That water goes for industrial use as well.”
Kelbon said the main focus of her campaign was to work on a suffering economy on the Olympic Peninsula.
“That is everything from what I see as a diminishing base of the living-wage job industry here on the Peninsula,” she said. “That needs to be addressed. We can’t just live on grants alone.”
Kelbon said in her campaign, she encountered difficult stories, illustrating the effect of legislation on people downstream.
Kelbon said she did not believe those effects to be the intent of the legislators, but that legislators need to put better consideration into the effects that their decisions have on people.
She added that she is grateful for the support given to her by voters and throughout the campaign.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman @sequimgazette.com.
