2A — THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020
LOCAL/STATE
DAILY Bentz wins Republican primary for Congress
PLANNER Alex Spenser, Nick
TODAY
Today is Thursday, May
21, the 142nd day of 2020.
There are 224 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On May 21, 1927, Charles
A. Lindbergh landed his
Spirit of St. Louis mono-
plane near Paris, completing
the fi rst solo airplane fl ight
across the Atlantic Ocean in
33-1/2 hours.
On This Date
In 1542, Spanish explorer
Hernando de Soto died
while searching for gold
along the Mississippi River.
In 1868, Ulysses S. Grant
was nominated for president
by the Republican national
convention in Chicago.
In 1881, Clara Barton
founded the American Red
Cross.
In 1892, the opera “Pagli-
acci,” by Ruggero Leoncaval-
lo, premiered in Milan, Italy.
In 1910, a year-old Jewish
settlement near the port city
of Jaffa adopted the name
Tel Aviv.
In 1932, Amelia Earhart
became the fi rst woman to
fl y solo across the Atlantic
Ocean as she landed in
Northern Ireland, about 15
hours after leaving New-
foundland.
In 1941, a German U-boat
sank the American merchant
steamship SS Robin Moor
in the South Atlantic after
the ship’s passengers and
crew were allowed to board
lifeboats.
In 1972, Michelangelo’s
“Pieta,” on display at the
Vatican, was damaged by
a hammer-wielding man
who shouted he was Jesus
Christ.
In 1979, former San Fran-
cisco City Supervisor Dan
White was convicted of vol-
untary manslaughter in the
slayings of Mayor George
Moscone and openly gay
Supervisor Harvey Milk;
outrage over the verdict
sparked rioting. (White was
sentenced to seven years
and eight months in prison;
he ended up serving fi ve
years and took his own life
in 1985.)
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TODAY’S QUOTE
“Being frustrated is
disagreeable, but the real
disasters of life begin when
you get what you want.”
— Irving Kristol, American
writer (1920-2009)
BUDGET
Continued from Page 1A
Brown said. “I am thankful
for the work of our congres-
sional delegation to secure
federal funding for Oregon
in the relief packages Con-
gress has passed so far. But
those funds only address
a fraction of our current
need, especially since we
are not permitted to use the
funding we have received
so far to address state
budget shortfalls.”
“As a state, we took
action to shutter our
economy in order to save
lives in the middle of a
once-in-a-century crisis.
Now it’s time for Congress
and the president to step up
and provide once-in-a-cen-
tury support for important
state services, including
schools, health care, and
public safety.”
More federal aid uncer-
tainThe Democratic-led
U.S. House passed a $3 tril-
lion aid bill on May 15 with
$500 billion for states and
$375 billion for local gov-
ernments. But the Repub-
lican majority in the U.S.
Senate has balked at the
price tag, and President
Donald Trump has taken
a wait-and-see stance, so
more aid for states does not
appear to be imminent.
Brown has received
agency plans she ordered
earlier this month for $3

Heuertz of Central
Point ahead on
Democratic side
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Former Sen.
Cliff Bentz of Ontario won
the Republican nomina-
tion for the 2nd Congres-
sional District in Oregon on
Tuesday.
Former Rep. Knute Bue-
hler of Bend called Bentz
just before 9:30 p.m. to
concede the race. Former
Sen. Jason Atkinson of
Central Point was run-
ning third. Jimmy Crump-
acker, a recent transplant
to Deschutes County who
spent over $600,000 and
was endorsed by anti-abor-
tion and gun rights groups
was running fourth. None
of the other seven candi-
dates on the Republican
ballot had
more than 10
percent of the
vote.
Bentz was
the top choice
Bentz
for voters in
Union and
Wallowa counties. He
won 1,851 votes or 34.9%
in Union County and 945
votes or 53.4% in Wallowa
County, according to unof-
fi cial results on the Oregon
Secretary of State’s website.
Alex Spenser of
Klamath Falls and Nick
Heuertz of Central Point
were ahead in the fi eld of
fi ve Democrats vying for
the seat.
Bentz thanked the voters
of the district, who he
said looked past the large
amounts of advertising by
Buehler and Crumpacker to
give him the win.
“I think people in this
congressional district are
smart and they study the
candidates before they
vote,” Bentz said. “Jimmy
is a nice guy, but he doesn’t
really live in the district.
He’s a Portland guy with a
ski cabin in Bend. Good on
him for trying, but he has
to know the district before
running for Congress.
“Knute ran as a mod-
erate two years ago when
he was running for gov-
ernor, then tried to run as a
conservative for Congress.
People remember. Knute is
a good physician, but politi-
cally, he just doesn’t fi t this
district.”
The race drew 11 Repub-
licans to replace Rep. Greg
Walden, R-Hood River,
who announced last fall
that he would retire after 22
years in Congress. The dis-
trict is the only one of fi ve
in Oregon represented in
Congress by a Republican.
It covers all of Eastern and
Central Oregon, along with
a large slice of the south-
western part of the state.
Bentz announced early
for the race, with much of
the geography of his state
senate district overlapping
Walden’s.
Buehler entered the
race, bringing his statewide
name recognition and fund-
raising ability into the con-
test. The physician served
two terms in the state
House sandwiched between
unsuccessful bids for sec-
retary of state in 2012 and
governor in 2018.
Buehler praised Bentz,
and said he would support
his campaign to win the
seat in November.
“Cliff is a good man and
a strong legislator,” Bue-
hler said in a statement.
“His deep roots in CD2
will serve us all well in
Congress.”
A late entry that stirred
the campaign was Crump-
acker, an asset manager,
who registered to vote
in Deschutes County on
Nov. 20, three weeks after
Walden announced he
would retire, according
to Oregon Public
Broadcasting.
The district has proved
reliably Republican for
the past two decades,
with Walden sometimes
receiving more than 70% of
the vote during his re-elec-
tion campaigns. His closest
race came in 2018, when
Jamie McLeod-Skinner
of Terrebonne held him to
56% of the vote.
Spenser began the race
as campaign manager for
Democrat Raz Mason of
The Dalles, who eventu-
ally withdrew her candi-
dacy. Spenser then fi led
to run for the offi ce her-
self. Heuertz described
himself as an independent
businessman.
———
Observer staff contrib-
uted to this report.
Union County voters approve Wallowa County sheriff ’s
race goes to Joe Fish
levy for mosquito control
The Observer
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Union County Vector Con-
trol District soon will be
able to upgrade its arsenal
for preventing the spread of
mosquito-borne illnesses
like West Nile disease.
Voters overwhelm-
ingly approved a measure
Tuesday that will raise
close to $1.3 million for the
Union County Vector Con-
trol District over the next
four years. Funds from the
levy will go toward mos-
quito control services.
Chris Law, manager of
the Union County Vector
Control District, told The
Observer earlier this month
that passage of the levy
would help his depart-
ment upgrade the ser-
vices it provides, including
aerial applications with
drones. Law said that using
unmanned aircraft can
treat large areas much more
quickly. This would give
district the potential to treat
more acres.
The measure will cost
Union County property
owners 16 cents per $1,000
of assessed property value,
according to a statement on
ballots for the May 19 pri-
mary election. This means
the owner of a $100,000
home would pay $16 a year
for the levy.
Passage of Measure
31-100 renews an operating
levy that has been in place
since 2008. A four-year
operating levy of the same
rate was fi rst approved by
voters in May of 2008 and
was renewed by voters in
2012 and 2016, according
to the Union County elec-
tion ballot.
ENTERPRISE — Joel
Fish has ousted incumbent
Steve Rogers as Wallowa
County sheriff.
Unoffi -
cial election
results from
the Oregon
Secretary of
State website
show Fish has
Fish
56.4% of the
total.
He has received 1,925
votes while Sheriff Steve
Rogers is trailing by 632
votes.
The third candidate,
challenger George Kohl-
hepp, received 193 votes
or about 5.7%.
Almost 61% of Wal-
lowa County’s 5,754 reg-
istered voters cast ballots,
with 3,414 total votes so
far in the sheriff race.
State elections rules
state a candidate receiving
more than 50% of the
May primary vote will
be the sole candidate to
appear on the November
ballot.
The preliminary vote
count indicates Fish will
be the only sheriff candi-
date on that ballot.
Bylenga surges ahead in House
District 58 Democratic primary
Hansell takes 29th
District GOP primary
EO Media Group
SALEM — Bill
Hansell, R-Athena, won
the 29th District State
Senate Republican pri-
mary Tuesday night, easily
defeating chal-
lenger Garison
Lee Alger,
according to
the Oregon
Secretary
Hansell
of State’s
website.
Hansell won 15,606
votes, or 92% of the vote
total, easily outdistancing
Alger, who received 1,350
or the remain 8% with the
exception of 16 write-ins.
Union County sup-
ported Hansell with 4,465
votes or 92.5% of the total.
SALEM — Umatilla
County voters may have
clinched a Tuesday night
victory for Nolan Bylenga,
22, a Portland State Uni-
versity senior and Pend-
leton High School alum
running in the Democratic
primary race for the House
District 58 seat.
As of Wednesday,
Bylenga led Barbara
Wright of Pendleton with
53.13% of the vote to her
45.17%, according to the
Oregon Secretary of State’s
website.
Wright, 68, a merchan-
diser, veterans advocate
and former small business
owner in Pendleton, was
billion in spending cuts,
amounting to 17% of
their general fund support
starting July 1. But no one
expects those cuts to pass
the Legislature. Brown
has the authority to cut
spending across the board,
but only lawmakers can
approved selected cuts.
Brown also could impose
a hiring freeze — although
more workers have been
needed at the Employment
Department and other agen-
cies affected by the pan-
demic and the downturn —
or employee furloughs.
“The latest forecast for
state revenue makes it clear
that we have tough choices
ahead,” she said in her
statement Wednesday. “We
will need to tighten our
belts. I am working with
legislative leaders to pre-
serve critical state services,
fi nd effi ciencies, and pre-
pare for potential budget
cuts.”
But neither she, Senate
President Peter Courtney of
Bylenga
Wright
leading the race Tuesday
night before Bylenga
nearly doubled her vote
total in Umatilla County.
Union and Wallowa
County voters backed
Wright. She won 966 votes
or 55.7% to Bylenga’s 769
votes in Union County, and
in Wallowa County she
prevailed with 305 votes
or 51.8% over 262 votes or
44.5% for Bylenga.
By the end of Tuesday
night, Bylenga received
1,187 votes in Umatilla
County, good for 64.13%
of total votes, while Wright
received 615 votes or
33.23%.
The winner advances
to the November general
election to face Repub-
lican Bobby Levy of Echo,
the lone candidate on the
Republican ticket.
Democrats haven’t
fi elded a candidate in the
58th District primary since
2014, when state Rep. Greg
Barreto, R-Cove, won his
fi rst term. Barreto declined
to seek a fourth term,
opening up a seat that
covers Union County, Wal-
lowa County and a part of
Umatilla County.
Salem, nor House Speaker
Tina Kotek of Portland have
said when a special legis-
lative session might occur.
Kotek, in a video confer-
ence Tuesday sponsored by
the Portland Business Alli-
ance, said lawmakers still
need to assess other sources
of aid stemming from the
$3 trillion CARES Act.
She did say a session is
likely before August, and
lawmakers cannot put off
action until their next reg-
ular session starts Jan. 11.
Lawmakers were told
the state has $1.6 billion in
its two main reserve funds
— one generated by lottery
proceeds for education, the
other from income taxes for
general programs — plus
$1 billion in ending bal-
ances that lawmakers could
tap. The reserve funds have
had a chance to grow since
the most recent downturn a
decade ago, but lawmakers
are barred from using all
of the money in a single
budget cycle.
EO Media Group
Wallowa County vdid the
same, casting 1,529 votes
— 93.9% — for Hansell.
Hansell is in his eighth
year as a senator for Dis-
trict 29, which includes
Umatilla, Morrow, Wal-
lowa, Union, Gilliam,
Sherman and half of
Wasco counties. Hansell
served for 30 years
as a Umatilla County
commissioner.
Alger, a Pendleton car-
penter, fi led Feb. 5 to run
in the Republican pri-
mary. According to his
fi ling paperwork, Alger is
a Pendleton High School
graduate with experience
in construction, fl ooring,
metal fabrication and cus-
tomer service.
Oregon secretary of state race is too
close to call; Biden wins Dem primary
By Andrew Selsky
Associated Press
SALEM — The
race for the Demo-
cratic nomination to be
Oregon secretary of state
remained too early to call
Wednesday.
Front-runners Sens.
Shemia Fagan and Mark
Hass were virtually tied
in their bid to be their
party’s candidate for
the second-highest state
offi ce in Oregon.
The winner will face
state Sen. Kim Thatcher,
who won the GOP
nomination.
The coronavirus pan-
demic complicated the
mail-in primary as elec-
tion workers kept social
distancing in county
offi ces while staffi ng
levels were down. Elec-
tion workers received
La GRANDE
AUTO REPAIR
instructions on handling
ballots along with protec-
tive equipment from the
Oregon National Guard
and others.
Voters in Baker City
decided Tuesday to sell
the quarter-century-old
backhoe, with 92% in
favor and 8% opposed
among the over 3,000
people in the eastern
Oregon town weighing
in. The fate of the
1995 Case 580 Super
L backhoe confronted
voters in Baker City —
population around 10,000
— because the city
charter requires voters
to give approval before
the city council can sell
property valued at more
than $10,000.
Voters also said don’t
bother coming to us
with this stuff again,
voting 75% to 25% on
another ballot measure
that allows the council to
sell surplus equipment,
regardless of value.
One local race is gar-
nering national atten-
tion. Voters in metropol-
itan Portland appeared
to be approving taxes
on personal income and
business profi ts that
would raise $2.5 billion
over a decade to fi ght
homelessness.
Former Vice President
Joe Biden won Oregon’s
Democratic presidential
primary, though Vermont
Sen. Bernie Sanders gar-
nered 20% of the vote,
according to partial
returns.
President Donald
Trump, who was unop-
posed, won the Oregon
GOP presidential contest.
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