Author: Jean Cowan
Filings for the May Primary closed on March 8th, and we have a daunting election cycle ahead of us! On the National level, ten individuals (7 Republicans and 3 Democrats) are seeking the United States Senator position, currently held by incumbent Ron Wyden. Oregon gained a sixth congressional district, and redistricting has moved Lincoln County into the 4th Congressional District; that open U.S. Representative seat is sought by another ten candidates (9 Democrats and 1 Republican).
Due to term limits, Oregon Governor Kate Brown is unable to run again, leaving an open contest for governor and attracting a total of thirty-six partisan candidates (17 Democrats and 19 Republicans). The winning candidates for each party are also expected to face an unaffiliated contestant in the General Election, assuming Betsy Johnson is successful in filing via petition. The position of Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) is also an open seat. The winner will succeed Val Hoyle (D-Eugene), who is completing her first term as labor commissioner this year. She did not seek a second term, opting instead to run for Congress. This non partisan race now includes a total of seven hopefuls. If any candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in May, they’ll win outright; otherwise, the two who get the most votes will face voters in the November General Election.
Incumbent State Representative (HD 10), David Gomberg (D) will be challenged in the General Election by Celeste McEntee (R). Seven judge ships have uncontested races, the Oregon Supreme Court, five Court of Appeals seats and Circuit Court Judge, Dist. 17.
Two seats are up for election on the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners. Position #1 is an open seat, following the retirement of Commissioner Doug Hunt. This race will include five candidates. Incumbent Commissioner Kaety Jacobson is challenged by
an additional three contestants for position #3. The commissioner races are non-partisan, and as with the vote for Labor Commissioner, to be successful a candidate would need more than 50% of the votes cast. If that goal is not achieved, the top two vote-getters for the position would go on to the General election contest.
The County Commissioner positions are the only contested local races on our May Primary ballot. For that reason, LWVLC has agreed to host a County Commissioner
virtual forum in mid-April. Note that this forum will replace our usual April Membership Meeting.
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