Residency of new Bend city councilor was challenged
The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday found that recently elected Bend City Councilor Casey Roats did not violate the state’s election rules when he listed his business and an unfinished home as his address on election and candidate filing documents. A complaint was submitted in October by political activist Michael Funke, who contended these addresses are not valid residences. During the election, Roats
...MORE
Statewide sick leave, $15 minimum wage among top divisive issues
PORTLAND — If there was any question that Oregon’s minority Republicans and majority Democrats would clash on high-profile issues emerging ahead of the 2015 legislative session, a panel of elected party leaders gave the answer at a business conference Tuesday afternoon. The panel of two
...MORE
Oregon hacks lead policy question to the forefront
SALEM — Much of the country spent the last month focused on a crippling hack on Sony Pictures, but hacks on two Oregon agencies brought cybersecurity to the forefront of public policy in 2014. Two Oregon Secretary of State databases and the state’s Employment Department
...MORE
Ballot Measure 92 forced recount, lawsuit, was most expensive in history
The most expensive and second-closest Oregon ballot measure contest in nearly a century will end today with the defeat of a proposal to require labels on some genetically engineered foods. The group pushing Measure 92 announced Thursday it would not win despite two counties still
...MORE
Group: state needs to show all invalid votes were fraudulent or forged
The campaign pushing a GMO labeling measure that was the second-closest race in nine decades joined a handful of voters who filed suit against the state’s elections officials on Monday. The Yes on 92 campaign, which lost the general election by 812 votes, sparking a
...MORE
The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office has tallied the final unofficial results from the November election. A full hand recount of ballots is required when the difference between votes cast for and against a measure is no more than 1/5 of 1 percent of the
...MORE
Measure will likely spark first recount in six years
The vote on the ballot measure that would require labels on some genetically modified food in Oregon tightened even further Friday after several county clerks finished counting their ballots and sent the results into the state. Ballot Measure 92 was failing by slightly less than
...MORE
Oregon’s GMO labeling measure, which drew more campaign money than any other measure in state history, may be heading to a recount. The measure was rejected, but results released Thursday by Multnomah County pushed the margin of defeat to 0.1 percent, inside the 0.2 percent
...MORE
Proposals would divert more money to counties, veterans’ services
Election season just ended, but another apparently has begun. Two initiatives that would change how Oregon Lottery profits are divided have surfaced, paving an early path toward the 2016 election. One proposal would give half of the state’s lottery profits, the second-biggest revenue stream, directly
...MORE
Despite Measure 91, low-level marijuana will remain on dockets
Although Oregon’s most populous county will be taking a largely hands-off approach to marijuana prosecution, Central Oregon district attorneys say not much will change now that Oregon voters have approved recreational marijuana. Measure 91, which voters passed last week, permits possession of recreational marijuana in
...MORE
Candidate takes 9 percent of the vote as incumbent Republican barely falls to Democrat
With the apparent victory of Democrat Chuck Riley in Senate District 15 over a Republican incumbent, a win that would give his party a supermajority in the Oregon Senate, analysts are debating whether a Libertarian challenger tipped the scales in Riley’s favor. It’s conventional political
...MORE
Mae Huston takes the lead over Tom Brown for county commission seat
Mae Huston now leads Tom Brown by 14 votes in the Jefferson County Commission race in which they were initially a single vote apart after last week’s election, according to the county clerk’s office. Ballots submitted at drop sites outside of Jefferson County and ballots
...MORE
Votes from the midterm election are still being counted, but Oregon’s 70% likely highest
In a year that saw perhaps the lowest turnout in decades elsewhere, Oregon probably had the highest voter turnout in the nation, according to preliminary results. A Bulletin review of each state’s voter turnout shows Oregon’s 69.5 percent turnout is highest in the U.S. for
...MORE
Libertarian candidate influences outcome of undecided Senate race
Oregon’s third parties fielded candidates in partisan races across the board in this year’s elections. None of them won a major race, continuing a near dry spell that stretches back decades. But the parties are still claiming victories. The Pacific Green Party, whose candidate Jason
...MORE
Merkley, Wyden must adjust to life after Republicans’ victory
WASHINGTON — When the 114th Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, Oregon Democrats Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley will find themselves in the unfamiliar position of being in the Senate minority for the first time in eight years. For Merkley, who has been in
...MORE
Opponents ask that Roats not be certified as race’s winner
Casey Roats won a seat on the Bend City Council on Tuesday despite questions over whether he was eligible to run, but others have asked the courts to stop the councilor-elect from being certified as the winner. A complaint was filed with the Deschutes County Circuit Court one day after the election by Bend attorney Charlie Ringo. The complaint was filed on behalf of Foster
...MORE
Democrats pick up at least one seat in House, Senate
Democrats bucked the national Republican trend and added to their lead in the Oregon House and Senate, sending a loud message across the country that this is a solid blue state. In an election in which Democrats lost their majority in the U.S. Senate and
...MORE
Oregon joined Alaska and the nation’s capital in voting Tuesday to legalize recreational marijuana in the face of federal law that says it’s still a banned and dangerous substance. The state will have a textbook of sorts to follow when the Oregon Liquor Control Commission
...MORE
In winning re-election, senator avoided pitfalls that beset other Democrats
WASHINGTON — Even as a string of victories on Election Day gave Republicans enough seats to regain control of the Senate, Jeff Merkley’s double-digit win in Oregon was a rare bright spot for Democrats. As one of eight first-term Democrats defending their seats Tuesday, Merkley
...MORE
Some say they plan to stick with medical pot business
Some medical marijuana dispensary owners in Bend expressed excitement Wednesday about the passing of Measure 91, although, like many Oregonians, they still have a lot to learn about what it means for them. Measure 91, which allows for the possession, manufacture and sale of marijuana
...MORE
PORTLAND — Oregon voters on Tuesday rejected the labeling of genetically modified foods following the most expensive ballot measure campaign in state history. Residents voted down an initiative by Oregon GMO Right to Know that would have required manufacturers, retailers and suppliers to label raw
...MORE
Two members of the Bend City Council lost their seats Tuesday night, while newcomer Casey Roats eked out a victory in a four-way race. Updated vote counts released overnight by the Deschutes County Clerk’s Office showed Nathan Boddie widening his lead over Councilor Mark Capell
...MORE
Deschutes County Commissioner Tony DeBone resoundingly defeated challenger Jodie Barram on Tuesday and was elected to a second term. DeBone met with about 70 supporters at the Sunriver Brewing Company after hearing the initial results. He said the election came down to voters trusting the
...MORE
Easily bests Bend businesswoman Aelea Christofferson
Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, cruised to a ninth term in Congress on Tuesday, handily beating Bend businesswoman Aelea Christofferson in the race in Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District. The Associated Press called the race for Walden shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m. Walden, 57,
...MORE
Oregon voters re-elected Sen. Jeff Merkley on Tuesday, opting to send the first-term Democrat back to Washington over Republican challenger Monica Wehby, a pediatric neurosurgeon from Portland. Merkley’s victory was among the few bright spots for Senate Democrats, who could not prevent Republicans from retaking
...MORE
Independent, unaffiliated voters figured in to Republican’s victory
SALEM — Bend voters have elected Republican knee surgeon Knute Buehler over Craig Wilhelm to become the lone doctor in the state House at a time when Oregon will continue reforming health care. Buehler won House District 54 to replace Republican Jason Conger in a
...MORE
Ramsay trails Campbell; Roats leading for third seat
New faces are coming to Bend’s seven-person City Council, as one incumbent fell, an open seat will soon be claimed and a second incumbent trailed his challenger late on election night. Nathan Boddie, a physician at St. Charles Bend, defeated Position 5 incumbent Mark Capell,
...MORE
Setbacks for the governor were not enough to put Richardson in office
Showing an ability to withstand another of several political tests, Democrat John Kitzhaber, the longest-serving governor in the state’s history, was elected to a fourth term Tuesday. Kitzhaber beat Republican state Rep. Dennis Richardson, of Central Point, who hounded Kitzhaber for high-profile embarrassments during the
...MORE
Primary change fails — Oregon voters Tuesday rejected a big change to the state’s primary election system. They voted down Measure 90, a proposal to scrap Oregon’s current primary-election system in favor of a “top-two” format. Currently, only Democrats vote in the Democratic primary, and
...MORE
Crook County Commissioner Seth Crawford was cruising to reelection Tuesday night, carrying a comfortable lead in his race against Walt Wagner. Crawford, 36, was first elected to the commission in 2010. A real estate agent, Crawford touted his work on a trail system on the
...MORE
The race for the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners was as close as it gets late Tuesday, with Tom Brown clinging to a one-vote lead over Mae Huston. Brown, a lifelong Jefferson County resident and owner of an auto body repair shop, currently serves on
...MORE
Anne Graham, the lone challenger in a four-way race for three Redmond City Council seats, handily won her place at the table by appearing to finishing second only to longtime councilor Jay Patrick on Tuesday evening. Graham, 63, serves on the Redmond Urban Area Planning Commission and Downtown Urban Renewal Advisory Committee. She ran unsuccessfully for the council in 2012. A retired manufacturing facilities manager,
...MORE
Holzman, Asson also appear to have been re-elected
The race for the Sisters City Council brought two challengers into the mix and one, retired nonprofit manager Nancy Connolly, 53, rose to the top in a five-way race for three open seats. Connolly and project manager Robert Wright, 69, challenged incumbents Wendy Holzman, David Asson, and Brad Boyd. “Encouraging community involvement in a positive fashion, that will be my first priority,” Connolly said. Boyd,
...MORE
