Steve Bauer feels like a legitimate county commissioner now. Bauer, who was appointed to finish out Chris Endresen’s unexpired term about a year and a half ago, was the voters’ clear choice in Tuesday’s general election.

In the early returns, which posted on the Kitsap County Auditor’s Web page at 8:15 p.m., he was enjoying a decisive 60 percent lead over Republican challenger Sandra LaCelle.

“It feels like I’m legitimate now. That’ll be a nice change,” he said at a Democratic gathering turned victory party at the Silverdale Beach Hotel.

After hearing word of his projected victory, Bauer said he was ready to follow through on the ideas on which he campaigned: getting the county budget under control, broadening the county’s economy nursing the Puget Sound back to health.

“It’d be awful if I started changing (the issues) already, wouldn’t it,” he said about five minutes after hearing the preliminary voting results. “If you run for public office and you say you’re going to do something, you do it.”