Here’s who has a big early lead after first count in the Pierce County Council race

Democrat Robyn Denson leaped out to a large lead over three Republicans fighting for second place in the race to represent northwest Pierce County on its Council in early primary election results released Tuesday night.

Denson captured nearly 59% of the vote, all but securing one of two positions to advance to November’s general election for a four-year term representing Council District 7 under Washington’s top-two primary system. The district includes Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula, Fox Island, McNeil Island, Ruston, West Tacoma and North Tacoma.

Behind her, just over 12% of voters cast their ballots for Paula Lonergan. Josh Harris and Mitch Anderson received about 11.5% and 10% of the vote, respectively. Chuck West garnered about 7% of the vote.

One of them will succeed Derek Young, a Democrat, who has represented the district for two terms and served as Council chair.

Young endorsed Denson.

“I am beyond thrilled, so excited,” Denson told The News Tribune over the phone Tuesday. “To get almost 60% is huge.”

The 47-year-old small business owner and member of the non-partisan Gig Harbor City Council for the last two years brought the most local government experience to the race. She worked as a housing policy analyst for the state Legislature and served four terms on the Gig Harbor Parks Commission.

She said she’s thankful for the diverse support she received across the district, from Key Peninsula residents concerned about broadband access to Gig Harbor voters worried about infrastructure keeping up with development.

Denson told The News Tribune her priorities would be planning for growth, protecting the environment, and addressing crime, homelessness, and mental health issues.

She attributed her success in the primary to one-on-one voter engagement by going door to door in the district since February.

”I’ve been knocking in the rain, I’ve been knocking in the hot sun,” she said.

As for the next phase of the campaign? More of the same grassroots strategy.

“I’ve got more doors to knock on and more community groups to visit,” she said.

Denson’s Tuesday tally of just over 17,300 votes was nearly five times that of Lonergan’s 3,500.

Lonergan, 69, a former U.S. Air Force sergeant, stood out in the race as the chair of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Civil Service Commission and wife of county assessor-treasurer Mike Lonergan. She told The News Tribune that increasing the number of deputies and enhancing visibility in unincorporated Pierce County would be top priorities if elected.

“At this point, I’m cautiously optimistic that I will be in the top two,” said Lonergan, who attributed her success to name recognition and having similar political priorities to district residents.

Second to public safety is her desire to replace the Fox Island bridge.

”I will listen, I will learn, I will ask the questions that I need to ask,” said Lonergan.

She led Harris by about 160 votes on Tuesday night.

Harris, 47, came into Tuesday’s primary following significant media attention from a controversial incident in May where he shot a man in the head outside a homeless encampment near Cheney Stadium after recovering allegedly stolen property. Harris said he fired several shots at the driver, Scott Stacy, in self-defense as Stacy accelerated toward him.

County Prosecutor Mary Robnett asked that Kitsap County detectives investigate the case due to the Tacoma police union’s endorsement of Harris’ bid for county council.

Harris ran on a law-and-order platform. He has a criminal record of his own, which involves altered checks and false insurance claims, but had his gun rights restored through a legal petition in 2013.

Robnett determined Harris lawfully fired his gun outside the encampment in May and charged Stacy, who lived there up until his arrest, with assault.

Harris has since been fined for campaign finance violations by the state Public Disclosure Commission because he has not submitted a personal financial affairs statement despite warnings. Harris indicated he would make the proper disclosures in June but had not filed the required details about his personal finances as of Tuesday night.

Anderson, who filed to run on the day of the deadline, trailed Lonergan for second place by about 570 votes as of Tuesday.

“I’m hoping there’s a lot more votes to count right now,” he said.

He is a financial advisor who has held leadership positions with the Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce and the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber. While public safety was his top issue, he said he was the most qualified to bring fiscal responsibility to the Council.

Anderson said he was proud of his campaign given Lonergan’s name recognition in political circles and Harris’ notoriety around law enforcement issues.

He raised concerns about Harris’ ability to participate in the primary given his campaign finance issues.

“I’m kind of disappointed with the way the system works,” Anderson said. “For $250 he gets to sweep it under the rug. That’s concerning to me.”

He said he hopes his last minute campaign push of text messages, mailers and robocalls was enough to advance to November.

“It can be anybody’s game here,” he said.

This story is developing and will be updated.