Assessor Van Nortwick, Wertz advance

Clark County Assessor Peter Van Nortwick will square off with Ridgefield City Councilor Darren Wertz after the two emerged as the top two vote-getters in Tuesday night’s primary election.

The initial vote count put Republican Van Nortwick, who has first elected in 2010, with 26,620 votes, nearly 43 percent. Wertz, also a Republican, has been occupied with a family issue and hasn’t run an active campaign. He still received 19,433 votes, 31 percent. Norbert Schlecht, an independent who did not actively campaign, received 15,758 votes, 25 percent of the vote.

Van Nortwick said he was surprised by the results and was expecting to get a higher percentage of the vote count. The county assessor is responsible for assessing the value of over 170,000 parcels of property in Clark County that are used to prepare tax rolls. This year, Clark County residents saw their property tax bills spike as the result of an education funding package as well as voters approving local levies.

“As the assessor, I’m the one always associated with property taxes,” he said, describing his office as a “lightning rod.” “We are the office everyone calls.”

But he said that he’s optimistic for the general election, for which he said he will be campaigning more actively. He said that he’s been endorsed by other county officials as well as labor groups.

Although candidates for Clark County treasurer and clerk appeared on the primary ballot, the elections won’t be settled until the November general election.

Vancouver City Councilor Alishia Topper, who works as tax services manager in the treasurer’s office, still emerged as an early favorite for treasurer after receiving 42,677 votes, or almost 69 percent. Robert Hinds, a first-time candidate for public office and manager at HP Inc., received 18,969 votes, or just over 30 percent.

“The voters decided that experience is the most important thing in this race,” said Topper, who added that she would still be campaigning for every vote in the general.

In the race for clerk, Democrat Barbara Melton had 35,490 votes, or 51 percent of the initial vote count. Incumbent Clark County Clerk Scott Weber, a Republican, had 33,236, 48 percent of the vote.

“I think the voters are ready for a change,” said Melton.