Wednesday afternoon found Natalie Adona the yet-to-be-confirmed but projected winner in the race for Nevada County’s clerk-recorder position.

According to incumbent clerk-recorder Gregory Diaz there were about 16,000 ballots still to be counted in the county, so all races are technically up for grabs.

Election day started out slow for polling places but quickly picked up Tuesday afternoon.

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“There was a huge surge Tuesday afternoon in ballot drop-off,” reported Diaz. He added that the next update on official counts will be released on Friday, June 10.

Adona’s race was followed closely by many after the Grass Valley-based group Americans for Good Government distributed a handbill accusing Adona of being a “carpet-bagger” and alleging she used public funds to advertise her campaign.

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Adona said the distribution of said materials made her feel “not great.”

“My initial reaction — and I think it was ultimately the right one — was ‘don’t get sucked into all of that,” said Adona. “Just focus on what I bring to Nevada County, and what my qualifications are.”

“I always wanted this to be a contest about who can best represent Nevada County voters,” she said. “And who can do the job. It made me feel like the whole world thought that I didn’t belong here. But I totally belong here.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, Adona’s count totaled 11,111 with Jason Tedder counting 3,515, and Paul Gilbert claiming 1,290 votes.

Diaz said that there are a number of races that could be considered close, including that for auditor with Gina Will and Bob Tribble as the candidates. As of press time, Tribble was in the lead with 8,105 votes versus Will’s 6,641.

Diaz also speculated Wednesday afternoon that the race for District 3 supervisor — which finds Lisa Swarthout, Patti Ingraham-Spencer and Valentina Masterz in the running — is appearing as though it will go into a run-off later in the year. Wednesday afternoon reports Swarthout with 1,339 votes, Spencer with 809 and Masterz with 485.

In the race for District 4 supervisor Susan Hoek is leading Calvin Clark with 2,632 votes over Clark’s 400.

The Nevada City council race found Adam Kline with 413 votes versus Lou Ceci’s 396, Erin Minett with 315, and Ken Merdinger at 70.

In the race for county assessor Rolf Kleinhans had 10,584 votes while opponent Gerald Bushore saw 4,190.

“It’s conceivable that someone could get 90% of the remaining ballots and that would certainly change,” Diaz said.

Scott Lay was uncontested in his campaign to remain superintendent of Nevada County schools. Also unopposed was Jesse Wilson who will remain district attorney of Nevada County, as well as Sheriff Shannan Moon and treasurer/tax collector Tina Vernon.

The numbers reported here are not final and are subject to change as more ballots are counted.

For the most up to date election results, click here.

Jennifer Nobles is a staff writer for The Union in Grass Valley.