May 18 primary election results
Toler, Hare to vie for JoCo Board; CJ social gaming out
From our weekly issue dated May 19, 2010
An 11-person race for Josephine County Commissioner Position 1 will dwindle down to two for the November general election, as no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote.
Incumbent Dave Toler, a valley resident, garnered 44 percent of the vote in the Tuesday, May 18 primary election.
Simon Hare, an Illinois Valley resident, came in second with 22 percent. Third place went to Constitution Party of Oregon Chairman Jack Brown, who garnered 17 percent.
Hare spent election night surrounded by supporters at a restaurant in Grants Pass. He said he was pleased to have made the runoff.
“I“m glad to have the support of so many residents of Josephine County, who are looking for new leadership and new ideas,“ Hare said. “But we still have a lot of work ahead of us between now and November.“
Toler did not return a message seeking comment.
Cave Junction voters rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed the establishment of a social gaming ordinance, by a 55 to 44 percent margin.
Andrea Thomas, owner of the Nacho Mama“s restaurant in downtown Cave Junction, had approached the city council about the concept. She said she was “disappointed“ at the results.
“I think the city of Cave Junction missed an opportunity to help economic development here,“ Thomas said. “Texas Hold “Em is not going to go away, it“s just going to go somewhere else. They can take it to Grants Pass.“
Art Robinson, another Illinois Valley resident, succeeded in his primary against Jaynee Germond in Oregon“s 4th Congressional District. Robinson garnered 82 percent of the votes in Josephine County, with Germond earning 17 percent. Throughout the district, Robinson got 80 percent to Germond“s 20 percent. Robinson will go on to face longtime incumbent, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield) in the November general election. DeFazio was unopposed in the primary.
As of press time, the statewide race for Superintendent of Public Instruction was still too close to call.
Rep. Ron Maurer (R-Grants Pass) was cautiously optimistic Tuesday night as he watched returns from his home with friends and family present, about his chances of defeating incumbent Susan Castillo in the non-partisan election.
“I left everything on the field. I did everything I could do,“ Maurer said. “I have no regrets in my strategy.“
In Josephine County, Maurer beat Castillo by a 70 to 29-percent margin.
The two-way contested Democratic gubernatorial primary was won by former Gov. John Kitzhaber, who beat former secretary of state Bill Bradbury 66 to 29 percent statewide. Kitzhaber beat Bradbury 62 to 29 percent in Josephine County.
A total of nine Republicans ran for governor, but former Portland Trailblazers basketball star Chris Dudley came out ahead with 38 percent of the statewide vote. Allen Alley came in second with 32 percent, with former legislator John Lim earning 14 percent and anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore at 8 percent.
Alley led among Josephine County voters, with 33 percent. Dudley came in second with 27 percent, with Lim at 15 and Sizemore at 14 percent of the vote.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) easily handled two lesser known primary challengers, and emerged with 90 percent of the vote statewide and 87 percent
in the county.
Among Republicans, Jim Huffman beat out six other candidates, winning 41 percent of the vote statewide. Huffman“s total in Josephine County was 30 percent.
State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, former chairman of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, beat Sen. Rick Metsger (D-Welches) in a Democratic primary, with 65 percent of the vote statewide.
Metsger garnered 35 percent. In Josephine County, Wheeler was at 58 percent, with Metsger at 39 percent of the vote.
A pair of ballot measures that drew no strong opposition passed by wide margins at both the county and state level.
Measure 68 allows for the sale of bonds for public school capital construction costs, and was passed 65 to 35 percent statewide. Josephine County voters passed it 68 to 39 percent.
Measure 69 , pertaining to the sale of bonds for higher education institutions, passed 71 to 29 percent statewide and 67 to 32 percent in Josephine County.
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