5 November 2014
New Mayor To Take Over; Voters Say No to Fuel Tax
Joe Henry will move into the center seat at City Hall after the first of the year. Voters in Florence yesterday signaled they wanted a change in leadership, giving Henry 1321 of the 3346 votes counted in the race. Former Mayor Alan Burns was second with 1085 and incumbent Nola Xavier 1040.
There will be three new-comers on the council. Ron Preisler easily won election to Henry’s former position. He defeated Clarence Lysdale 1618 to 887.
Susy Lacer won election to a four-year term with 1549 votes… George Lyddon will join her on the panel. He had 1087. Mildred Rowley was in third with 992 votes, Shayne Burnem fourth with 876.
One of the first things the new council will have to deal with after the first of the year is how to pay for street repairs. Voters said no by a 55-to-45-percent margin to a split 3-and-5 cent per gallon fuel tax. 2031 voters said no to a proposal that would have spread the cost of street repairs over nearly all drivers in Florence. Instead, it’s likely that a three-dollar per month fee to pay for street repairs will remain on utility bills in the city.
No real surprises in regional races
Coos Bay Democrat Caddy McKeown will return to the State House in January. The House District 9 incumbent easily defeated her Republican challenger, Casey Runyon, by a 58-to-38-percent margin.
Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber appears to be headed for an unprecedented fourth term as governor after narrowly defeating his challenger, Southern Oregon Republican Dennis Richardson.
Kitzhaber has been declared the winner with 49-percent of the vote… just over 572-thousand… to Richardson’s 46-percent.
Jeff Merkley easily outpaced Republican challenger Monica Wehby by a 55-to-38-percent margin to win another six years in the U.S. Senate. Wehby’s campaign started strong and had an optimistic start, but her campaign faltered in the past 90-days.
Springfield Democrat Peter DeFazio is headed inside the Beltway for a 16th time. DeFazio took 59-percent of the vote in the Fourth District Congressional race to defeat Cave Junction Republican Art Robinson for the third time. Robinson picked up about 38-percent of the vote. In the other four Congressional Districts things will remain relatively stable. Suzanne Bonamici easily won reelection in District 1, the northwest corner of the state and west Portland suburbs. Republican Greg Walden easily won reelection in Eastern Oregon’s Second District; Democrat Earl Blumenauer won in Portlands Third District; as did Kurt Schrader in the Mid Valley’s Fifth District.
U.S. Senate
905 of 1,000 precincts – 91 percent
x-Jeff Merkley, Dem (i) 640,015 – 55 percent
Monica Wehby, GOP 449,513 – 38 percent
Mike Montchalin, Lib 35,738 – 3 percent
Christina Lugo, PAG 23,989 – 2 percent
James Leuenberger, CST 19,748 – 2 percent
U.S. House District 1 NW corner, Portland subs
152 of 195 precincts – 78 percent
x-Suzanne Bonamici, Dem (i) 118,373 – 58 percent
Jason Yates, GOP 70,420 – 34 percent
James Foster, Lib 7,931 – 4 percent
Steven Reynolds, PAG 7,623 – 4 percent
U.S. House District 2 Western part of state
195 of 208 precincts – 94 percent
x-Greg Walden, GOP (i) 190,383 – 71 percent
Aelea Christofferson, Dem 68,097 – 25 percent
Sharon Durbin, Lib 9,644 – 4 percent
U.S. House District 3 NW, Portland/Multnomah
209 of 209 precincts – 100 percent
x-Earl Blumenauer, Dem (i) 132,699 – 72 percent
James Buchal, GOP 37,560 – 20 percent
Michael Meo, PAG 6,778 – 4 percent
Jeffrey Langan, Lib 3,833 – 2 percent
David Walker, NPA 2,515 – 1 percent
U.S. House District 4 Southwest, Eugene
182 of 200 precincts – 91 percent
x-Peter DeFazio, Dem (i) 166,319 – 58 percent
Art Robinson, GOP 108,137 – 38 percent
Michael Beilstein, PAG 6,148 – 2 percent
David Chester, Lib 4,195 – 1 percent
U.S. House District 5 Northwest, Salem
170 of 192 precincts – 89 percent
x-Kurt Schrader, Dem (i) 122,938 – 54 percent
Tootie Smith, GOP 88,594 – 39 percent
Marvin Sannes, IP 6,035 – 3 percent
Raymond Baldwin, CST 4,756 – 2 percent
Daniel Souza, Lib 3,869 – 2 percent
Governor
905 of 1,000 precincts – 91 percent
x-John Kitzhaber, Dem (i) 572,531 – 49 percent
Dennis Richardson, GOP 541,337 – 46 percent
Jason Levin, PAG 21,882 – 2 percent
Paul Grad, Lib 16,835 – 1 percent
Aaron Auer, CST 13,037 – 1 percent
Chris Henry, Prg 10,611 – 1 percent
AP Elections 11-05-2014 08:18
Mixed bag on ballot measures
Oregonians can begin legally “lighting up” as early as December Fourth after approving recreational use of marijuana by a 55-to-45-percent margin.
Open Primaries and Drivers Cards for people unable to prove residency were not approved; both measures falling by about a two-to-one margin.
What’s not so clear this morning is the results of Measure 92, the Genetically Modified Food Labelling question… with 84-percent of the precincts reporting in, it’s trailing 631-thousand to 608-thousand votes… a 51-to-49 percent margin.
Voters approved a Constitutional Amendment requiring equal rights by gender… measure 89 was approved by a two-to-one margin. A measure allowing judges in Oregon to teach at public universities and enlist in the National Guard was approved; the establishment of a college fund for Oregonians was defeated.
Date: 11/05/2014 11:08 AM
BC-OR-Props-Glance-Sum/160
OR-Props-Glance-Sum
Measure 86 – College Fund
836 of 1,000 precincts – 84 percent
Yes, 489,959 – 41 percent
x-No, 694,720 – 59 percent
Measure 87 – Judge Employment
833 of 1,000 precincts – 83 percent
x-Yes, 664,079 – 57 percent
No, 506,998 – 43 percent
Measure 88 – Drivers Card
840 of 1,000 precincts – 84 percent
Yes, 401,473 – 33 percent
x-No, 824,823 – 67 percent
Measure 89 – Equal Rights
837 of 1,000 precincts – 84 percent
x-Yes, 750,062 – 63 percent
No, 436,723 – 37 percent
Measure 90 – Open Primaries
836 of 1,000 precincts – 84 percent
Yes, 382,445 – 32 percent
x-No, 810,868 – 68 percent
Measure 91 – Legalize Marijuana
842 of 1,000 precincts – 84 percent
x-Yes, 679,798 – 55 percent
No, 561,986 – 45 percent
Measure 92 – Food Labeling
842 of 1,000 precincts – 84 percent
Yes, 607,377 – 49 percent
No, 630,785 – 51 percent
AP Elections 11-05-2014 08:08
