These three candidates for Vancouver mayor will be narrowed down to two in Tuesday's primary election.

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- The second largest city in our region has had the same mayor for a decade and a half, but this time a three-way race may pose the stiffest competition. Vancouver citizens must cast their primary votes by 8 p.m. Tuesday.

If 70-year-old Royce Pollard gets re-elected, he'll have served 18 years as mayor of Vancouver by the end of the next term.

He's being challenged by a 38-year-old councilman, Tim Leavitt.

Leavitt accuses Pollard of asking for tolls for a new Interstate bridge that are too high. Pollard is saying Leavitt is unrealistic about what it takes to pull off such an important project.

Leavitt criticizes the mayor for raising taxes. The mayor is saying the city had to save fire and police services.

The two differ on Pollard's strong leadership style.

"People say, 'Pollard, he's arrogant,'" said Pollard from outside his mayoral office at Vancouver's city hall. "I don't know where they come off with that, but let me tell you I'm not arrogant. But I am aggressive in the events of this community. Don't ever confuse that with arrogance."

Leavitt, a current Vancouver City council member, told KATU that he sees this another way. "There have been too many closed-door, backroom deals going on between the mayor and some of his good friends."

This is a case of mentor versus the mentored, the incumbent and long-time mayor against the young city councilman -- their one-time close relationship soured.

There's a third man running, Charles Stemper. Pollard crushed him in the last election.

The top two vote getters in the Tuesday, Aug. 18, primary election go on to the November ballot.

KATU News will have the first results tomorrow after the ballot deadline.

KATU.com Hotlinks

• August 18th Primary Election
• Clark County Election Ballot Drop-Off Sites

WEB EXTRA:

A study of Vancouver voting attitudes conducted by KMac & Associates found the following on Thursday:

• 33 percent of respondents favored Pollard
• 27 percent supported Leavitt
• 19 percent backed Stemper
• 21 percent remained undecided

However, the poll may or may not be a good indicator of where the city electorate stands for several reasons:

• The sample size is small at only 140 people,
• The work was not completed by a national polling firm,
• The telephone poll was conducted Aug. 1 to Aug. 10 at different times of the day, not during one consistent period, and
• Respondents were selected from lists of voters who had cast ballots in both the primary and general elections in 2007 and 2008, not at random.

"I don't have any affiliation with the candidates," said Kathy McDonald, founder of KMac & Associates, which conducted the poll in part to raise its own visibility. "I care about who is leading our community next becuase I care about what is best for Clark County."

The poll, if accurate, could be problematic for Pollard, since not many Stemper voters are expected to turn to Pollard should their candidate be eliminated in Tuesday's primary vote.

Residents also were asked for their views on the current city council's performant. Twenty-one percent said it was "excellent," 41 percent siad "fair" and 33 percent said "poor" -- with 5 percent offering no opinion.

"Most of those polled who are undecided on a mayor felt that the city could do better and weren't happy with those at the helm," McDonald said in a statement.

Pollard and Leavitt both paid to have their own polls done near the start of the year, but neither has shared results.

                                                                                                                     -- Dan Tilkin, KATU News