Adair ousts Baney in Deschutes commissioner race

(Update: Later Adair-Baney results: HD 53 GOP race very tight)

Deschutes County Republican Party Chair Patti Adair defeated county Commissioner Tammy Baney in one of the closest Central Oregon races of the primary election Tuesday night, while her colleague, Tony DeBone, easily held off fellow GOP challenger Ed Barbeau.

Adair had nearly 52 percent of the vote, to almost 48 percent for Baney, according to the final round of counts finished early Wednesday. Adair will face Democrat James Cook in November.

“I just saw the county was accumulating a lot of funds, and I know people are really struggling paying their property taxes,” Adair told NewsChannel 21 Tuesday night. “I felt there was a need to represent those people.”

In the other county commission race, DeBone defeated Barbeau handily, 72 to 28 percent, moving on to a fall campaign against Democrat Amy Lowes.

Even closer Wednesday morning was the Republican race for the Oregon House District 53 seat being vacated by Republican Gene Whisnant. A two-way Democrat race finds Eileen Kiely easily topping Bill Trumble, 74 to 25 percent, but on the Republican side, Jack Zika was barely ahead of Ben Schimmoller, leading by just 11 votes out of nearly 7,400 cast.

You can find all of the latest election results at the state’s Website: http://results.oregonvotes.gov/Default.aspx

The city of Bend placed two proposed city charter changes on Tuesday’s ballot, and while both were passing, one did so more strongly.

A proposal for voters to directly elect the mayor, who until now was chosen by fellow councilors, garnered nearly 73 percent support. Passing by a slimmer 53 percent figure was a proposal to remove councilors’ pay from the charter and have it (and the mayor’s newly higher salary) set by council ordinance, based on an independent panel’s recommendation. Based on that, future councilors’ pay would rise to $533 a month and the future mayor’s to $1,066.

The city of Bend and Deschutes County Rural Fire District No. 2 were winning easy renewal of a five-year levy, at 74 and 76 percent approval. Officials said the first levy had done what was promised, boosting staffing to cut response times and improve survivability rates.

The La Pine Rural Five District’s 5-year operations levy renewal garnered nearly 88 percent approval in early returns, while the renewed Sisters schools local option levy was receiving nearly 60 percent approval. It was a closer winning margin of 56 percent for a Sisters Park and Rec 5-year local option levy,

As for other primary races, Democrats in the vast 2nd Congressional District picked Jamie McLeod-Skinner in a crowded field to take on Rep. Greg Walden, the long-time GOP incumbent. McLeod-Skinner had about 41 percent of the vote to 24 percent for Jenni Nearing and 12 percent for Jim Crary.

In the non-partisan race for state Labor Commissioner, Val Hoyle was winning with 51 percent in a three-way race with Lou Ogden, at 35 percent and Jack Howard, with 13 percent. Meagan Flynn was defeating Van Pounds 73-26 percent for Supreme Court judge, while Rex Armstrong was defeating Kyle Krohn 63-37 percent for Oregon Court of Appeals judge.

In Crook County, Jon Soliz was defeating Brian Huber 60 to 40 percent in the county assessor’s race.

Jefferson County Commissioner Mae Huston fended off a challenge from Kim Schmidt, 57 to 42 percent, while the three-way race for another county commission seat found Kelly Simmelink easily ahead with 61 percent to 29 percent for Courtney Snead and 9 percent for Mary Kendall.

A four-way race for Jefferson County Clerk showed Kate Zemke well ahead of the other candidates, with 55 percent of the vote, to 27 percent for Charity Dubisar, 13 percent for Brian Crow and 5 percent for Yoonsun Reynolds.

The only Jefferson County money measure found voters approving formation of the Canyon View Special Road District, 55 to 45 percent.