Voter turnout the day before Tuesday’s election topped 65% in Pacific County, among the highest in the state but still falling shy of the pace that was set four years ago.

As of Monday, Nov. 4, 65.4% of eligible voters in Pacific County had returned their 2024 general election ballot. That total ranks ninth out of Washington’s 39 counties but is behind the 77.2% of ballots that had been returned in the county on the eve of the 2020 general election.

Overall, statewide turnout was at 56.7% as of Monday, down from 73.7% the day before the 2020 election. Jefferson County on the Olympic Peninsula leads the state with 73.2% of ballots returned, while Adams County on the eastern side of the state is bringing up the rear with turnout at 38.9%.

There are a pair of contested local races on the ballot in Pacific County this year, along with four ballot measures and a plethora of federal, statewide, legislative and judicial contests that made for a lengthy ballot. Democratic incumbent Dave Tobin is seeking to fend off a challenge from Republican opponent Rita Hall for the peninsula-based seat on the county commission, while incumbent PUD commissioner Debbie Oakes is facing a challenge from David McClain.

Elsewhere, one of the most contested House races in the country is playing out in Southwest Washington, with U.S. Rep Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Skamania) and Republican challenger Joe Kent facing off in a rematch from two years ago, when Perez beat Kent by less than a percentage point. The candidates’ campaigns and outside groups for both parties have spent tens of millions of dollars on the contest, the outcome of which could help decide control of Congress.

Coverage of local and regional contests can be found online at chinookobserver.com, which will be updated as further results come in throughout the week. A more detailed recap of election results will run in next week’s print issue.