Incumbent District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard has taken a commanding lead after early-voting ballots were released by the Del Norte County clerk.With the first results of mail-in ballots, Howard has received 511 votes, or 56.59% of the total ballots counted. If Howard receives more than 50% of the votes in the primary election, he will earn a new term in office.Frank Magarino is in second place through the early release with 200 votes, or 22.15%, while Hank Akin has received 192 votes, or 21.26%.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');The other two supervisor's races appear to be headed for runoff elections in November if the early ballots hold.In a four-person race for the open District 4 seat, Joey Borges has taken the early lead with 331 votes, or 42.11%. Patty Adams holds a narrow lead for second place with 204 votes, or 25.95% of the total.Brian Stone is in third place through the early votes, with 199 votes, or 25.32% and Margaret Sargent is in fourth place with 52 votes, or 6.62%.The five-person race to fill the uncompleted term for District 5 also appears to be headed to a runoff between Deal Wilson and incumbent Susan Masten.Through the early release, Wilson leads the race with 267 votes, or 39.15%, while Masten has 234 votes, or 34.31%.Terry Colten is third in the voting with 78 votes, or 11.44%, David Jones is fourth with 68 votes, or 9.24%, and David Markel is fifth with 40 votes, or 5.87%.The county clerk's office expects more votes to be released late tonight, with the final count not available for up to a week. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });