As One Campaign Ends, Another Begins

Former Republican state lawmaker Tim Knopp easily defeated incumbent Sen. Chris Telfer in an expensive, closely watched primary contest.

Final numbers Wednesday showed Knopp won over 68 percent of the votes to Telfer’s 32 percent.

Telfer was one of two state legislative incumbents who lost their seats last night.

Former Republican state senator Neil Bryant of Bend, NewsChannel 21’s political analyst, said he wasn’t surprised by Knopp’s victory. He says Knopp won because he ran a good, effective campaign and raised quite a bit of money.

“We had many supporters in this race,” Knopp said in his victory speech Tuesday night. “We had nurses. We had doctors. We had small business owners. We had unemployed people who want jobs, who understand that the Legislature needs to follow through — and they all supported my campaign.”

Bryant said, “I thought Tim Knopp would probably win, but I didn’t think it would be by the big of a margin.”

Bryant says the large margin of victory happened in large part because so few people voted.

Just 36 percent of registered voters in Deschutes County turned in their ballots.

Bryant says conservative Republicans, those who voted heavily for Knopp, are more motivated to vote than independent or moderate party members, who leaned toward Telfer.

“He did a good job of making sure those people did vote — and of course, they supported him,” Bryant said.

Telfer didn’t even expect a challenger, but as soon as Knopp entered the race, he started to blast her on three main issues: a gas tax bill, a kicker bill and the fact she switched parties.

“To conservative Republicans, that had a strong impact,” Bryant said.

Now Knopp will face political newcomer Geri Hauser of Bend, who makes computer maps for the county.

“It’s going to be an uphill battle for me, and I know I’m the underdog — but I’m not a pushover,” Hauser said. “So I’m going to do my best and work hard.”

Hauser says she started her campaign after she saw Knopp enter the race, and she didn’t waste any time Wednesday making her case for the fall.

“I want to expose Tim Knopp as the real person that he is,” Hauser said. “He’s not representing the working families of Central Oregon. He’s got other interests. He’s got an agenda that is not right for Central Oregon.”

Some have already predicted that Knopp is a shoo-in to win in November.

“People just don’t know who she is or what she stands for, other than that shes a Democrat,” Bryant said. “And that’s not good enough for victory. It might in Portland, but not Deschutes County.”

Some have even speculated Telfer could run as an independent in the fall.

But Bryant tells me he doesn’t think an independent could win the seat.

Whether Telfer could run as a Democrat — not likely.

Democrats tell NewsChannel 21 they are sticking with their current candidate,i Hauser.