A challenger was winning in the race for Position 3 on the Sunset Empire Transportation District board Tuesday night.

With about 73% of the vote, Kathy Kleczek was leading incumbent Charles Withers in early election results. Withers had about 26%.

Kleczek, a land use and transportation planner with the state and a former board member and chair for the district, stressed a need to identify communities struggling to get transportation and improve service for those further away. Withers, a Cannon Beach resident who moved to Clatsop County from Virginia to retire, emphasized his experience as an incumbent member of the board as well as a lifelong interest in public transportation.

Kleczek told The Astorian on Tuesday night that it was “definitely too early” for a comment, but that “it is looking positive.”

The race comes two years after the district’s financial collapse; in April 2023, the district suspended operations after its Executive Director Jeff Hazen announced it had run out of money. Had he not resigned the following month, the district’s board said Hazen would have been terminated for financial malfeasance that resulted in the district’s financial collapse.

The Sunset Empire Transportation District recently hired David Carr as an executive director, replacing Craig Johnston, who resigned from his interim position late last year.