Local voters are backing a levy lid lift for Olympic Medical Center and narrowing down key local and regional races for the Aug. 6 Primary Election.

As of Aug. 12, the Clallam County Elections office reports 25,387 ballots were tallied — about 44.1% of the 57,614 registered voters — with an estimated 10,000 ballots left to count.

The next update of Primary Election totals were released Aug. 12.

The election will be certified Aug. 20, and the general election will take place Nov. 5.

OMC getting a lift

Voters in Public Hospital District 2 have approved a levy lid lift that will increase Olympic Medical Center’s property tax collection rate of 31 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value to 75 cents per $1,000, the maximum amount allowed under state law.

As of Aug. 9, voters gave the measure 13,044 yes votes, or 57.1%, to approve the levy and 9.797, or 42.9%, to reject it.

The levy will generate about $12 million a year, nearly double the amount OMC currently collects.

“We’re grateful people were so supportive, and we’re humbled by the support of the community to make this happen,” said Darryl Wolfe, OMC’s chief executive officer.

“We know it was a big ask.”

Hospital Commissioner Philip Giuntoli said passing the levy won’t solve OMC’s revenue problems, but it is certainly helpful.

“This gets us closer to financial stability, although we still have some intangible challenges,” he said.

Those primarily involve government programs like Medicare and Medicaid that constitute 85 percent of OMC’s patient revenue but that don’t fully pay for the cost of care.

Medicare reimbursements, for example, cover about 82 cents per dollar for care.

Wolfe has said the only real relief for OMC will come at the federal level with significant changes to how Medicare and Medicaid reimburse hospitals.

Critical access hospitals such as Jefferson Healthcare and Forks Community Hospital that have 25 beds or fewer are reimbursed by government providers based on the cost of care.

An OMC talking point throughout the campaign was that the levy increase was necessary to protect crucial 24-7 operations such as labor and delivery, emergency services and trauma care. It would also keep care local and support the local workforce. OMC is the county’s largest employer, with more than 1,600 employees.

OMC is among the 85 percent of hospitals in the state that are losing money. It sustained $28 million in operating losses in 2023.

The levy increase will generate about $12 million a year — about double the amount it currently collects.

OMC’s tax levy rate was last adjusted in 2008, when 54% of voters approved increasing it to 44 cents from the original 11-cent levy set in 1947 to create the public hospital district. Since that time, the collection rate has dropped to 31 cents per $1,000.

Commissioner Anne Henninger said the levy victory was a sign of support from the community.

“I think it was motivated by valuing OMC and what we do and wanting us to continue helping people,” she said.

OMC is the county’s largest employer, with more than 1,500 employees. Its tax levy rate was last adjusted in 2008.

24th Legislative races

Adam Bernbaum and Matthew Roberson will face off for one of the 24th Legislative District’s state House positions, and incumbent Steve Tharinger will face challenger Terry Roberts for the district’s other seat in Olympia.

Tharinger has a big lead on his way to the General Election in his efforts to retain his Legislative District 24 State Rep. Position 2 seat. The Port Townsend Democrat garnered 30,442 votes, or 59.8%, of the ballots cast district-wide. He’ll face off against Roberts, a Republican who collected 13,139 votes (25.8%) of ballots cast; Hickory Grant, a Republican, placed third with 7,247 votes (14.3%).

Tharinger also collected the lion’s share of votes in Clallam County, with 14,011 votes (56.9%), well ahead of Roberts (6,657 votes, 27%) and Grant (3,951 votes, 16%).

In the race for State Rep. Pos. 1, Bernbaum, a Democrat, and Roberson, a Republican, are headed to the General election. Bernbaum received 14,192 votes, good for 28.2% of ballots cast, while Roberson garnered 13,261 votes, or 26.3%.

Democrat Eric Pickens, a Port Angeles educator and Sequim School District board president, finished third in the race with 8,926 votes (17.7%).

Clallam County voters preferred Roberson with 7,425 votes (30.5%), followed by Bernbaum (5,887 votes, 24.2%) and Pickens (4,690 votes, 19.3%).

“I’m incredibly grateful for all of the community support,” Bernbaum said.

“Voter turnout was disappointing, but we are going to work on that on our side and see more folks voting in November,” Roberson said. “Everyone ran a good race.”

Bernbaum expressed his gratitude regarding the primary results.

“I think all five of us ran campaigns that engaged in a substantive conversation about the issues that are important to the community,” he said. “If I advance, I’m looking forward to continuing that conversation in the general (election).”

Republican JR Streifel was fourth (6,984 votes, 13.87%) and Democrat Nate Tyler finished fifth (6,959 votes, 13.82%).

“It’s not over, but it’s pretty much over for me,” Streifel said. “There’s no way I can make the top two, but I did my part.”

“I was supposed to stand for what I believe and represent people who feel the same way,” he added.

“I’m at peace. I did my best. Matt is a great guy, and he has all the tools to change the government. We’ve been looking for a red tag.”

In the race for the district’s State Senator seat left open by Kevin Van De Wege, Port Angeles Democrat Mike Chapman — who ceded his State Rep. Pos. 1 seat to run for the Senate — and Republican Marcia Kelbon of Quilcene head to the General Election. Chapman has in his favor 27,835 ballots, or 54.4%, to Kelbon’s 20,759 (40.6%) district-wide. James Russell, a Democrat, was third with 2,507 votes, or 4.9%.

In Clallam County, Chapman had 13,105 votes, or 53%, and Kelbon had 10,556 votes, or 42.7%.

Chapman said following the initial Aug. 6 ballot count that the results were “a great start.”

“It’s pretty indicative of how primaries have been going on the North Olympic Peninsula since 2016,” he said.

“As we go into the general [election], we’re going to keep talking about the issues that are important to the district,” he said, citing housing, public infrastructure and transportation as forefront issues.

As he gears up for the Nov. 5 election, he said he’s focused on connecting with and listening to voters.

“Campaigns give you a chance to slow down and listen, outside of the cauldron of Olympia,” Chapman said. “That’s how I’ve always approached the period between the primary and the general.”

Kelbon she said she wasn’t surprised that initial results reveal a face-off between her and Chapman.

“There were only two candidates that really campaigned,” Kelbon said.

She said she’s “definitely looking for a greater turnout in the general.”

“I’m glad for the people that voted, and hoping that more people will step up and let their voices be known,” Kelbon said.

Russell said in an email interview that, no matter the election outcome, “we must go strongly and immediately to a truly new way of doing all political and social business.”

He said it is “critical that we promptly and immediately act to develop, apply, and try very different and new approaches” to the problems the district faces.

Johnson, Decker headed to General

Incumbent Randy Johnson and challenger Kate Dexter will face off in November for a Clallam County commissioner seat.

Johnson, an Independent, earned 4,374 votes, or 55.3%, while Dexter, a Democrat, was in the second place with 3,220 votes, or 40.7%.

Democrat Anders Tron-Haukebo, a third candidate in the race, received 273 votes, or 3.5%.

The race is for the District 2 position, one of three Clallam County commissioners. It is the only seat up for election this year.

Bernard, Simpson advance in PUD race

In the closest local race in the Primary, challenger Ken Simpson and board appointee Phyllis Bernard will advance to the November general election for a seat on the Clallam County Public Utility District board.

Simpson and Bernard were neck-and-neck when initial returns were released on Aug. 6 and remained so through the end of the week. Bernard garnered 1,462 votes, or 37.97%, while Simpson had 1,460 votes, or 37.92%.

A third candidate for the District 3 seat was Kenneth Reandeau, who had 773 votes, or 23.7%, by Aug. 12.

Simpson is the son of former Clallam PUD commissioner Ted Simpson.

Bernard was appointed by the PUD board in April after the death of former PUD commissioner Jim Waddell. She also serves as an at-large commissioner for the Olympic Medical Center board.

Both Simpson and Reandeau were candidates for the seat this spring when the two other PUD board members selected Bernard to fill out the remainder of Waddell’s unexpired term.

Randall, MacEwen take leads in 6th

Emily Randall and Drew MacEwen edged out three other competitors to advance to the November general election in the race for the 6th Congressional District.

Randall, a Democrat who is currently a state senator in the 26th Legislative District, had 77,660 votes, or 34.5%.

MacEwen, a Republican who is serving as the state senator in the 35th Legislative District, had 68,113 votes, or 30.2%.

The two will face off Nov. 5 to replace U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, who chose not to run for re-election.

Finishing third was Hilary Franz, a Democrat and current state Commissioner of Public Lands. Franz had 55,913 votes, or 24.8%.

Janis Clark, a Republican, had 16,888 votes, or 7.5%, and J. Graham Ralston, an Independent from Port Angeles, had 6,102 votes, or 2.9%.

In Clallam County, MacEwen and Randall were neck-and-neck, with MacEwen earning 6,384 votes, or 30%, and Randall with 6,677 votes, or 2.9%.

Public Lands race

Two Republicans, Jaime Herrera Beutler and Sue Kuehl Pederson, emerged a pack of seven candidates for state Commissioner of Public Lands to advance to the Nov. 5 general election after the initial ballot tally, but Democrat Dave Upthegrove has slipped past Pederson in successive ballot counts.

Herrera Beutler, a former Congresswoman from Southwest Washington, totaled 407,664 votes, or 21.9%, statewide.

Upthegrove held a slight lead for second place in the race early this week with 390,640 votes, or 20.9% — just ahead of Pederson’s 385,161 votes (20.7%).

Kevin Van De Wege, the former 24th Legislative District state senator who lives at Lake Sutherland, finished sixth in the seven-candidate race. As of Aug. 12 he had 140,566 votes, or about 7.6% of ballots casts. He had the most votes out of the group of candidates in Clallam County with 6,217 votes, or 25.2%, with Pederson second in the county with 5,510 votes (22.3%).

The state Commissioner of Public Lands leads the Department of Natural Resources.

See Clallam County election totals and updates at clallamcountywa.gov/1808/2024-August-Primary, and full statewide Primary Election results at sos.wa.gov/elections.