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Two out of the three races for Del Norte County supervisor have clear winners, while the third appears to be headed for a run-off election in November.

Supervisor Lori Cowan leads the District 2 race with 40.83 percent of the vote, according to election results released by the Del Norte County Elections Office at 9:53 p.m. Tuesday.

Though it initially appeared that Cowan would face Crescent City Harbor Commissioner Jim Ramsey in the Nov. 3 general election, results show retired probation officer Valerie Starkey coming in second with 30 percent of the vote, according to the elections officer. Ramsey received 28.87 percent of the vote.

A race with three candidates is likely to go to a run-off election unless the winner receives 50 percent or more of the votes, according to an elections office representative.

In District 1, Crescent City Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief  and former Crescent City Councilor, Darrin Short won the evening, receiving 61.60 percent of the vote, according to election results. His opponent, Del Norte Ambulance general manager and Bicoastal Media host John Pritchett received 38.40 percent.

Finally, District 5 incumbent Bob Berkowitz defeated his challenger, Del Norte Democratic Central Committee Chairman Kevin Hendrick. Berkowitz received 57.76 percent of the vote to Hendrick’s 42.24 percent, according to the elections office.

Cowan chose to spend Super Tuesday evening at home with her family. She praised the “wonderful wonderful women” who were part of her team and thanked the community and the voters. Though her campaign will be on hiatus until August, Cowan said she’s not going to rest on her laurels.

“I’ve got a job to do,” she told the Wild Rivers Outpost. “I’m doing the job right now. I’m taking care of things. I don’t have the time the other two people had being retired. I’m used to being busy and I will just keep moving forward.”

Celebrating with friends at Enoteca, Short said Pritchett had already called to congratulate him when the early results showed he was ahead. Short said he was proud that he and his opponent ran a friendly campaign, shaking hands, and even heckling each other, when they walked the neighborhood knocking on voters’ doors.

“He used the word, ‘setting the standard,’ and I kind of agreed with that,” Short told the Outpost. “We ran a good clean friendly campaign.”

In the next roughly nine months — until he takes the District 1 seat over from current supervisor, Roger Gitlin — Short said he’ll continue to attend meetings and keep up with issues that are important to his future constituents.

“I think already because of my City Council experience, I can kind of hit the ground running,” Short said. “I will be able to hit the ground running when the time comes.”

While members of the Del Norte Republican Central Committee drifted back and forth between Short’s election party and their headquarters across the street, Berkowitz chatted with fellow members of his party. Though he noted that the results were preliminary, Berkowitz was also fairly confident that he defeated his opponent.

“My opponent spent $17,000, I spent $7,000,” Berkowitz told the Outpost. “He’s going to lose. That’s gotta be a come down for him.”

Berkowitz not only credited members of his campaign for his successful re-election bid, he said his efforts to keep in touch with his constituents also paid off. This includes sending an annual update to his constituents and holding daily “town hall meetings.”

Berkowitz noted that holding these meetings was a chance for voters to feel they were listened to even if their representative couldn’t do much else.

As he finishes out his first term and heads into his second, Berkowitz said he wanted to do more to connect with voters in Klamath, potentially holding a similar town hall meeting in that community.

“I want to find a venue where they can feel comfortable,” he said. “When I first ran for election, they said, ‘We feel like the stepchild of Crescent City.’ And four years later, even though I’ve been down there once a week, they still say that.”

Starkey declined to comment to KFUG Community News on Tuesday.

For up-to-date election results, visit the Del Norte County Elections Office website. The Wild Rivers Outpost will also provide an update on Wednesday.

The KFUG Community News Reporters Brayden Hatch and Persephone Corvid Rose contributed to this report.

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