Redmond man withdraws bid to fill District 59 Oregon House seat
(Update: Perry withdraws nomination for seat, backs Bonham)
Redmond resident Robert (Bob) Perry announced Thursday that he will withdraw from being one of three nominees to fill the Oregon House District 59 seat vacated by John Huffman of The Dalles.
Perry said he intends to support the candidate who earned the precinct committee members’ nomination on the first ballot at their Saturday meeting in Madras.
He said he will urge county commissioners to support Daniel Bonham of The Dalles to this important position. The third nominee they chose to recommend was Mae Huston, a Jefferson County commissioner from Culver.
In a statement on his decision to withdraw support Bonham, Perry said, “Daniel will provide a fresh voice for this district and the Legislature. I’m impressed with his moral compass and his ability to communicate.
“Daniel is 40 years young – and the Republican Party urgently needs youth and the vigor it provides to more effectively communicate our common sense, conservative message,” Perry wrote. ” By supporting Daniel, I hope to enhance party unity as we try to combat the tax-and -spend Democrats currently in control. To all my supporters who encouraged my running for this post, thank you, and one never knows what the future might hold.”
The precinct committee members from Deschutes, Wasco, Jefferson and Wheeler counties met in Madras on Saturday and after three ballots agreed to forward the names of three of the five applicants.
The commissioners from the four counties are scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. Monday in Madras and use a weighted formula, based on population, to choose who will serve out the rest of Huffman’s term.
Huston serves on the Jefferson County Commission and won election in 2014 by just 13 votes over Tom Brown, a narrow margin that required a hand recount. She told NewsChannel 21 she would resign from the commission, if chosen for the House seat.
Bonham, a Tigard native and Linfield College graduate, has owned Maupin Stoves and Spas in The Dalles with wife Lori for the past 10 years.
Perry is a retired marketing director of the Gillette Co. who served as chair of the Deschutes County Republicans in 2015-16 and founded the Redmond Patriots in 2010. He also was elected to the Redmond School Board in 2011 and served a four-year term.
Redmond resident Mike Shirtcliff also had sought the post vacated late last month by Huffman, who is taking a job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Commissioners’ votes on who to appoint will be weighted, based on the percentage of District 59 GOP voters in their counties, said Deschutes County Clerk Nancy Blankenship, who provided this list:
County
Number of Registered Electors
Votes per County
Number of Commissioners/Judges
Votes per Commissioner
Deschutes
15,805
16
3
5.33
Jefferson
13,684
14
3
4.66
Wasco
15,070
15
3
5
Wheeler
1,016
1
3
0.33
The counties have 30 days from Huffman’s Oct. 28 resignation to pick a successor for the legislative seat — and if they don’t by then, Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, would appoint the replacement.
Whoever is chosen can seek a full two-year term at next year’s election.
