Jefferson County Commissioner Greg Brotherton

Port Townsend proved decisive in Greg Brotherton’s re-election win for a second term as Jefferson County’s District 3 county commissioner, according to an analysis of unofficial election returns by
The Leader.

The Jefferson County Elections Division released an updated tally of the 2022 General Election on Friday.

Election workers have counted 21,219 ballots through Nov. 18, with an estimate of 78 ballots left to count during the next tally on Nov. 29.

An additional 1,062 ballots were counted Friday.

Two Democratic Party incumbents won their re-election bids in this year’s two contested races for positions in county government.

Brotherton has secured another four-year term by winning
66.29 percent of the vote over Republican challenger Marcia Kelbon, who had 33.61 percent in Friday’s updated total.

Election officials reported a total of 20,759 ballots counted in the District 3 commissioner’s race.

In the other contested county election, incumbent Joe Nole handily bested fellow Democrat Art Frank for the job of sheriff.

Nole had 68.8 percent of the vote, to Frank’s 30.44 percent.

A total of 19,361 ballots were counted in the sheriff’s race.

While both Nole and Brotherton won by landslide proportions, a review of unofficial precinct returns shows Brotherton amassed an insurmountable advantage over Kelbon in Port Townsend’s
11 precincts.

Brotherton won more than
80 percent of the vote in nine of
11 precincts in Port Townsend, and hovered near 75 percent in the remaining two.

The first-term commissioner found his greatest support in Port Townsend Precinct 1106, where Brotherton pulled in 86.2 percent of the vote. Precinct 1106 includes neighborhoods south of Hastings Avenue and west of Discovery Road.

Brotherton’s next greatest stronghold was in Port Townsend Precinct 1111 (the downtown area between Kearney and Hudson streets, from Lawrence to Water streets), where he received
85.9 percent of all ballots counted so far.

Overall, Brotherton won the vote in Port Townsend precincts with 82.1 percent of the vote. He got 4,187 more votes in Port Townsend than Kelbon (5,346-1,159).

Countywide, Friday’s unofficial vote count found Brotherton with 13,761 votes overall to Kelbon’s 6,978, a gap of 6,783.

All told, Brotherton fared above 70 percent of the vote in 16 of the county’s 37 precincts.

In addition to Port Townsend Precinct 1108 and Port Townsend Precinct 1109, where he had 74.7 and 75.7 percent of the vote, respectively, Brotherton surpassed
70 percent of the vote in the precincts of North Jacob (70.6), Cape George I (76.10), Cape George II (77.4), and Kala Point (72.3).

Kelbon, who was making her first attempt at elected office, won four of Jefferson County’s 37 precincts.

Kelbon did best in Quilcene, where she won 60.2 percent of all ballots counted so far.

She also won both Brinnon precincts: Brinnon I, with
58.6 percent; and Brinnon II, with 59 percent.

Kelbon’s final precinct win came in Center, with 52.4 percent of the vote. 

In the race for sheriff, county election workers counted another 938 ballots on Friday.

Nole had a total of 13,321 votes, while Frank had 5,894 — a difference of 7,427 votes.

A review of unofficial precinct returns showed Nole winning a majority vote in every precinct in the county. Nole claimed more than 70 percent of the vote in 21 of the county’s
37 precincts.

The sheriff enjoyed his greatest support in the precinct of Chimacum, which he won with
79.8 percent of the vote. The vote tally in that precinct Friday was 361 votes for Nole, and 91 votes for Frank, a difference of 270 ballots.

Other parts of the county voting strongly for Nole included the precincts of Oak Bay II
(78.1 percent), Irondale I (77), and West End (77).

The Jefferson County Elections Division reported turnout at
76.9 percent for the 2022 General Election, with a total of 27,592 registered voters.

The election will be certified by the Jefferson County Canvassing Board on Tuesday, Nov. 29.