 |
|
|||||
City Annexation fails, Ericksen, Lennox win By RODGER NICHOLS and KATHY GRAY for The Dalles Chronicle Wasco County voters made a memorable turnout at the polls for Tuesday’s midterm general election, with a strong 72.78 percent of ballots returned. Results below are from the final unoffical tally, delivered by Wasco County Clerk Karen LeBreton Coats at 11:40 p.m. Tuesday. They record the votes of 9,028 voters. An additional approximately 100 ballots were found to have various problems, and will be decided on a case-by-case basis the next few days. The county mailed out 12,780 ballots. Voters passed two tax measures, creating a library service district and a extension 4-H service district. The library district, which failed to win a double majority in the May primary, passed this time with 52.7 percent of the votes cast. The tally was 4,472 yes votes to 4,013 no votes. The 4-H Extension service district won by an even wider margin, garnering 59 percent of the votes; 5,079 yes to 3,525 no. Voters inside the urban growth boundary, but outside city limits, soundly defeated a city annexation effort, 551 votes to 219, rendering moot the in-city vote in favor of 2,875 votes to 1,313. Two other money measures on the ballot were defeated by voters Tuesday. Creation of a Pine Hollow Fire District went down by the widest margin of the night. Voters rejected the proposal by 82.75 percent. The vote was 74 yes and 355 no. The proposal would have created a tax base for a district that is now all-volunteer. The $2 per $1,000 assessed valuation rate appears to have been the sticking point. Maupin voters also defeated a proposal for a transient lodging tax, by a 126 to 99 margin. Wasco County voters followed the trend of the state as a whole on all but one measure, Measure 40, regarding electing state judges by district. Wasco County supported Measure 40 4,621 to 3,814 in favor, while statewide the measure was rejected. They helped approve Measure 39 limiting government condemnation privileges 6,374 to 2,069; defeated six measures, including Measure 41 on income tax exemptions (5,231-3,146); Measure 42 on creditworthiness (5,266-3,468); Measure 43 on parental notification of abortions (4,438-4,292); Measure 45 on term limits for state legislators (4,790-3,857); Measure 46, a constitutional amendment limiting campaign contributions (4,633-3,639); and Measure 48, a state spending limit (5,818-2,491). Voters approved of Measure 44, improvements to the Oregon prescription drug program (6,785-1,866) and Measure 47 on limits to campaign contributions (4,919-3,500), although passage of Measure 46 was required to enact Measure 47. Rep. Greg Walden, incumbent Republican Second District Congressman, cruised to a decisive win in Wasco County, garnering 65.2 percent of the votes cast. Walden had 5,765 votes to Democrat Carol Voisin’ 2,727 and Constitutional Party candidate Jack Alan Brown’s 231. Statewide, Walden won his district with 67 percent of the vote, while Voisin garnered 30 percent and Jack Alan Brown had 2.6 percent. Wasco County voters chose incumbent Democrat Ted Kulongoski as Oregon’s governor, with 4,162 votes (47 percent). Kulongoski captured the state majority vote as well. Republican Ron Saxton placed second at 3,928 votes (44 percent), followed by Mary Starrett (Constitution), 529 votes (6 percent); Richard Morley (Libertarian), 111 votes (1.25 percent), and Joe Keating (Pacific Green), 111 votes (1.24 percent). The tightest race of the night belonged to the District 59 Oregon House contest. Incumbent Republican John Dallum of The Dalles trailed Democrat Jim Gilbertson of Culver by just over 1 percent in Wasco County. The tally was 4,170 votes for Dallum, and 4,265 votes for Gilbertson. District 59 covers Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, Jefferson, Wheeler and Grant counties, plus a sliver of northwestern Deschutes County. District-wide, Dallum had a slight lead following morning results of 9,705 votes to Gilbertson’s 9,612, a margin less than half a percentage point. Wasco County Judge, Republican Dan Ericksen, retained his seat, defeating Democrat Richard Murray, 4,912 to 3,544. In the race for the open seat on the county court created by the retirement of Democrat Scott McKay, fellow Democrat Bill Lennox defeated Republican Bob McFadden, 4,621 to 3,854. In The Dalles City Council races, Carolyn Wood defeated Dan Spatz, 1,971 to 1,638 for the Councilor at large position, and Jim Wilcox defeated Nikki Lesich, 1,970 to 1,736, in the Position Two post. In other contested city races, four candidates were vying for three spots on the Maupin city council. Denis Carlsen drew 149 votes, Lynn Ewing garnered 158, Clinton Windom had 136 votes, and Jon Helquist trailed with 127. In Shaniko, Goldie Lee Roberts defeated Sharon Kintrea for the mayor’s office by a vote of 14 to 2. In other contested races, Mike Elmore was elected to Chenowith PUD Position 4, defeating Ernest Sellberg 157-106. Pine Hollow elected five fire directors, Merle Hlavka (221 votes), Basil Beeler (215), Thelma Alsup (205), Jim Turner (173) and Darla Mormance (139). Other results from Wasco County are available at www.thedalleschronicle.com. Back to Top Home |
|||||
Yes, 642,251 - 67 percent