Democrats appeared to be doing well in early Island County primary election returns with Karla Jacks leading for District 3 commissioner and Ana Maria Nunez as treasurer.

Jacks is outpacing her four Republican challengers with 2,371 votes cast in her favor, or 49 percent.

The race for the second slot is a squeaker. Republican Marc Hennemann has 727 votes or 14.99 percent, Republican Rick Hannold has 712 or 14.68 percent, and Aubrey Vaughan, a Republican appointed as an interim commissioner, has 688 votes or 14.19 percent.

Republican candidate Kelly Bagley garnered 352 votes, which is 7 percent.

“There’s still a lot of votes out there,” said Hennemann, a Camano Island resident, Tuesday night. “We did a good ground game.”

North Whidbey resident Rick Hannold said that he’s pleased with the support he’s received but is eager to see how the votes play out.

Vaughan could not be reached for comment.

Ana Maria Nunez earned 6,412 votes, or 45 percent. Former deputy treasurer Wanda Grone, a Republican, has 3,842 votes, or 27 percent, and escrow manager Christa Canell, also a Republican, has 3,950 votes, or 28 percent.

The top two candidates in each race will go on to the general election.

Island County Auditor Sheilah Crider was the only other candidate for a county seat who has a challenger on the ballot. Crider, a Republican, has 7,669 votes, or 57 percent, and Rebecca Wagner has 5,689 votes, or 43 percent.

Sheriff Mark Brown is facing a write-in challenger in North Whidbey resident Dave Olinger, but those won’t be counted until later.

The Republican incumbents are coming out on top in the two races for state representatives in District 10.

It looks like Rep. Daves Hayes, a Republican, will face Democrat Nick Petrish in the general election, while two other candidates fall behind. Hayes was far ahead with 10,458 votes, or 48 percent, while Petrish has 5,742, which is 26 percent.

David Sponheim, who is running as a Democrat, has 3,452 votes and Republican Brien Lillquist garnered 2,238.

Rep. Norma Smith has just one challenger in Michael Scott, a Libertarian. Smith is far ahead with 16,098 votes, or 78 percent, while Scott has 4,418, or 22 percent.

In the race for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, incumbent Rep. Rick Larsen, a Democrat, is ahead with 57 percent of the vote in District 2. In the first count, a total of 44,718 votes were cast in his favor.

Republican candidate B.J. Guillot is in second place with 25,449 votes, which is 32 percent. Independent candidate Mike Lapointe earned 8,946 votes, or 11 percent.

A total of 15,348 ballots were counted in Island County Tuesday. With a total of 50,735 registered voters, turnout was about 30 percent.

The election will be certified on Aug. 19.