Incumbent Bainbridge Island City Councilman Kol Medina was the runaway winner in the first vote tally in the 2019 Primary Election.

Bainbridge voters (and just those in the city’s North Ward) cast ballots Tuesday to whittle the three-member field of Position 2 hopefuls down to a pair of candidates for November’s General Election — although the field has already been pre-winnowed by the earlier departure of one name in the race.

In the first vote tally Aug. 6, Medina was in front with 52 percent of the vote to challenger Kevin Fetterly’s 40 percent.

Medina, who is also serving as the island’s council-appointed mayor, had 818 votes in the initial count, while Fetterly had 637.

The third candidate on the Bainbridge ballot, Ashley Mathews, had 7.1 percent of the vote in the first tally, according to the Kitsap County Elections Division.

Although Mathews dropped out of the race last month, Kitsap election officials were not notified in time to be able to keep her name off the ballot. State law dictates that the deadline to withdraw for candidates is the Monday following the end of filing week (which ended May 17 this year).

Under Washington state’s top two primary system, the two candidates with the most votes will advance to the General Election.

Medina is seeking a second term in the council’s North Ward, District 2 position. He ran unopposed during his first campaign, and was elected to a four-year term in November 2015.