Nearly three week after the election there is still work to be done as Deschutes County officials continue to certify ballots. With a few races still too close to call the County Clerks office to working to make sure every vote cast in the county is counted.
Central Oregon Daily’s Curtis Vogel has more.
Sally Russell won Bend’s first mayoral race in over a century and is now the first woman elected to the post.
Russell, a city council member since 2012 and currently serving as mayor pro tem, took a decisive lead on Tuesday over her main opponent, city council member and software company CEO Bill Moseley.
As of Thursday morning Russell held 50.18 percent of the vote to Moseley’s 40.88 percent.
Moseley conceded the race to Russell Tuesday night.
Gena Goodman-Campbell and Incumbent city council member Barb Campbell are both expected to win their races for the two open Bend City Council seats.
Goodman-Campbell soundly beat her two opponents for council position 5, taking over 60 percent of the vote as of Wednesday.
Campbell also beat her two opponents in the race for council position 6, however her race was a quite a bit closer with first time challenger Sarah McCormick grabbing 43 percent of the vote. Campbell was able to take the win with 49 percent of the vote.
The two conservative candidates have likely squeaked out wins in competitive Deschutes County Commission races.
Incumbent Tony DeBone held on to his early lead against democratic challenger Amy Lowes. DeBone holds 51.35 percent of the vote as of Thursday morning to Lowes 48.54 percent.
The race for position three continues to be too close to call. Republican candidate Patti Adair holds a slight lead with 50.64 percent of the vote over democrat James Cook’s 49.23 percent. The results of that race won’t be certified until later this month.
Governor Kate Brown continued Democrats 36-year winning streak in Oregon’s gubernatorial race by beating Republican challenger Knute Buehler on Tuesday.
Despite polls leading up to the election showing a close race, Brown grabbed an early lead on Tuesday night and ended up with 50 percent of the vote to Buehler’s 44 percent as of Wednesday.
Buehler conceded the race with a speech on Tuesday and Brown will be sworn in to her final four years as Oregon’s governor in January.
Greg Walden held on to Oregon’s Congressional District 2, in what was the closest race the congressman has faced since he was first elected to that office in 1998.
Democratic challenger Jamie McLeod-Skinner put up a solid fight, beating Walden in Deschutes County and his home county of Hood River. However district wide she was only able to pull 39 percent of the vote to Walden’s 56 percent.
Walden continues to be Oregon’s only Republican representative in Congress.
Oregonians had no problem voting no during this year’s midterm election. All but one of the ballot measures on this month’s ballot failed.
The only measure that passed, Measure 102, gives local governments more flexibility when it comes to funding affordable housing projects.
Other than that Oregonians said no to…
Voters in the cities of Sisters and Culver rejected measures that would’ve allowed marijuana dispensaries in the city limits.
Voters in Sisters banned both medical and recreational marijuana sales, but a measure that would’ve taxed pot sales if dispensaries had been allowed passed with a majority vote.
Dispensaries are also likely to be voted down in Culver, but the race is still very tight.
On the ballot for Oregon voters is an unexpectedly close race for governor between incumbent Kate Brown and Bend’s Dr. Knute Buehler. Central Oregon Daily’s Curtis Vogel caught up with Buehler today at his election office in Bend to hear how he’s spending his last few days of campaigning.
The election is only one week away, and the latest polls show Governor Kate Brown’s lead over her challenger, Knute Buehler, is close to or within the margin of error. So for this week’s Supper Club, Curtis Vogel traveled to Salem to sit down with Pacific University political science professor Jim Moore and long-time state capital reporter Dick Hughes to look at some of the factors that could decide the race.
A special thanks to our Supper Club sponsor, Selco Community Credit Union, for giving us the time and resources to talk about the issues that impact our region with a new edition of Supper Club every Tuesday night on Central Oregon Daily.
