Incumbent Kitsap County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido and challenger Linda Simpson showed early leads in the four person race to the top two primary election for District 2, which covers much of southern Kitsap County.

On Tuesday Night, results as counted shortly after the polls closed showed Simpson leading the Kitsap Conty Commissioner District 2 race with 36.73 percent of the vote. Garrido, a democrat, followed with 34.16 percent. Former Port Orchard Mayor Lary Coppola, a democrat, received 21.33 percent and independent Kristine Danielson had 7.54 percent.

As of 9 p.m, 11,246 ballots had been counted. The Kitsap County Auditors Office will update the results again on Wednesday as more ballots come in. Numbers should be finalized later this week.

Contacted after the numbers came in, Garrido said she knew voters faced a difficult test in a fiercely contested primary race. She said voters will have an easier choice in November, when it’s democrat against republican.

“The four way primary gave people a lot of choices,” Garrido said.

Simpson said she was “thrilled” to be leading in early results, and was “happy and honored” to move on to the general election in November. Moving forward, Simpson said she would double her efforts at name recognition, a crucial point in winning against an incumbent commissioner, she said.

“When we started, I didn’t have the name recognition,” she said. “I’m just really competitive. We’re going to work together with everyone.”