PORT ANGELES – The two candidates for Clallam County prosecutor faced off in a debate in Port Angeles yesterday.

Incumbent Mark Nichols and challenger Selinda Barkhuis spoke before a large crowd at the Port Angeles Business Association meeting.

Barkhuis, the former county treasurer who quit early due to health reasons last year, said she left office because she was being set up for a lawsuit over release of county funds she questioned as treasurer.

But Nichols countered that wasn’t the case.

The talk also circled to another potential lawsuit involving public records requests from the Peninsula Daily News seeking emails between Barkhuis and Port O’ Call publisher Dale Wilson. Barkhuis says she thinks she was sued over her use of personal emails, because of her previous actions as a whilstleblower and work as a writer for the Port O’ Call publication.

But Nichols says that was not the nature of the suit.

Nichols added the lawsuit was actually seeking guidance from a Superior Court judge on the release of the emails.

Nichols is serving his first elected term as the county prosecutor. Prior to that he was the chief deputy prosecutor for Clallam County and had served in other legal work and is a former law enforcement officer.

Barkhuis is a license, non-practicing attorney who was elected twice as the county treasurer and was a member of the charter review commission.