A dead man is no longer expected to become Napavine’s newest fire commissioner.
Rick LeBoeuf now leads Tom Crowson in the race for Commissioner Position 2 at Lewis County Fire District 5.
Crowson, a longtime firefighter who served as District 5 commissioner from 2015 to 2021, died on July 27 at the age of 73.
As of Tuesday night, Crowson held a 31-vote lead over LeBoeuf.
At the time, the Lewis County Auditor’s Office estimated that 1,204 ballots still needed to be counted.
The question was how many of those applied to District 5.
After Wednesday evening’s ballot count, Crowson’s lead had shrunk to just nine votes.
Then, on Thursday at 11:36 a.m., the auditor’s office released another update showing LeBoeuf had overtaken Crowson for the top spot — by just three votes.
The auditor’s office estimates there is only one ballot left to count.
Assuming the latest count stands, LeBoeuf will join current fire commissioners Sandra White and Mike Goodwillie on the three-person board.
Napavine Fire will also avoid facing two potential vacancies to its leadership posts.
Former Fire Chief Jonathan Beck was let go “without cause” on Oct. 9. He was the third chief to be fired since June 2023.
Gregg Peterson is currently serving as interim chief.
If Crowson had won, the situation would have been treated as if a commissioner had resigned, according to Deputy Auditor Tom Stanton.
In effect, the other two commissioners would have had to appoint someone to fill the vacancy, which wouldn’t have become official until January when elected officials typically assume office.
Crowson finished first in the primary race for Fire District 5 Position 2 on Aug. 5, earning 713 votes to LeBoeuf’s 275.
Incumbent commissioner Sam Patrick finished third in the primary with 172 votes.
