Briscoe beats Jensen in Port of Bellingham commission race

Robert “Bobby” Briscoe will take the open seat on the nonpartisan Port of Bellingham Commission, according to preliminary election totals.

Briscoe, a commercial fisherman, was leading with 55 percent of the vote, while Gary Jensen, currently Ferndale mayor, trailed with 45 percent of the total as of 8:14 p.m. Tuesday night, Nov. 3.

The next vote tally was scheduled to take place by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office. The election will be certified on Nov. 24.

When reached by phone Tuesday night, Briscoe, who was steaming toward Bellingham on his boat, said he had prepared for it to be a closer race.

“Honestly, I figured it was going to be a very close race,” Briscoe said. “Gary is a good man and would have been a good man for the job too. I’m happy that I’m going to be the next commissioner because I want to do a good job for Whatcom County.”

Jensen said he had enough experience with elections at this point to realize that a spread like that is probably going to remain, and said he was thankful for having had the chance to serve the public for as long as he did.

“I don’t think that’s a secret, that’s fine, I understand that,” he said of the results gap. “I’ll thank the public for allowing me to serve 10 years and we’ll move onto something else.”

The District 3 seat covers most of Whatcom County west of Guide Meridian, stretching from northwest Bellingham to the Canadian border.

The counts showed Briscoe gained ground since the top-two Aug. 4 primary, in which only voters who live in District 3 weighed in. In that election, Briscoe took home 44 percent of the total and Jensen had 38.5 percent, as the two edged out then-competitor Lloyd Zimmerman.

During the general election, every voter in the county was able to vote for who should be on the three-member commission.

Briscoe was endorsed by the Whatcom County Democrats, Northwest Tribal PAC, Bellingham/Whatcom County Fire Fighters IAFF, the Whatcom Commercial Fisherman’s Association, Lummi Indian Business Council, and the Teamsters Union.

Jensen was endorsed by outgoing District 3 commissioner Jim Jorgensen, and the Whatcom County Republicans.

Briscoe’s campaign raised significantly more money than Jensen’s — at least $41,970, according to filings with the Public Disclosure Commission. Jensen, on the other hand, had raised at least $16,924, according to PDC fillings.

The three-member port commission makes decisions about publicly owned port properties from Fairhaven to Blaine, including marinas, real estate, industrial workspace, the ferry terminal and Bellingham airport.

The commission is currently overseeing the extensive cleanup and redevelopment of the city’s industrial waterfront.

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 9:58 PM with the headline "Briscoe beats Jensen in Port of Bellingham commission race."