FROM PAGE ONE
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022
CANDIDATES
Continued from Page A1
has yet to hear a response from Thielman.
Thielman said he does not recall
making a comment about the defi nition
of a white supremacist and said the media
often “throws out name calls without
giving any defi nition to the term.”
“If Tim had an issue with
me he should have talked to
me like a man, a grown-up,
a professional rather than
draw a conclusion about that,”
Thielman said. “I am glad
Tim is signed up in the race,
Thielman
he is the fi rst African-Amer-
ican, and he is a hero to me
and I appreciate his conviction.”
Following the Linn County forum,
McCloud said he was uninvited to the Jose-
phine County forum, something he had
committed to on April 16.
“Three days after (the white suprema-
cist remark) was made, I got an email from
Josephine County telling me that what
would be best for me is to pursue a lower
offi ce and I was no longer invited,” said
McCloud of the April 29 event.
McCloud said he can’t prove the two
things are related, but he believes it all
shows that as a legally qualifi ed candi-
CHOIR
Continued from Page A1
which forced the cancella-
tion of the competition in
2020 and 2021.
LHS A Cappella Choir
Director Kevin Durfee said
the group’s complete lack
of state competition expe-
rience made preparing for
state more challenging, but
he said the choir’s members
rose to the occasion.
“They did an out-
standing job,” Durfee said.
“I’m proud of the job they
did.”
date he is not receiving equal treatment.
Thielman said he has no ability to invite or
disinvite McCloud to events and does not
see the conclusion being made as accurate.
Holli Morton, chair of the Josephine
County Republican Party, said the number
of candidates was reduced for the forum by
taking into account numerous factors. She
notifi ed fi ve of the 12 candidates that they
were not going to be included in the forum.
Morton said name recognition, fi nancial
ability, government experience and business
experience were the factors taken into con-
sideration when inviting candidates. Can-
didates had to meet at least two of the four
factors to be included. The business experi-
ence criteria was set for someone who has
run a business and had at least $10 million
annual revenue with 12 or more employees.
“Our forum was two and a half hours
long with just the seven candidates we
had,” she said. “We made the same
response to fi ve candidates and it is not per-
sonal. We felt those candidates did not meet
the criteria that we established.”
McCloud also takes issue with not being
invited to the Dorchester Conference at
Mount Hood Oregon Resort on April 22-24
where a gubernatorial debate and straw poll
was held.
“The Dorchester brands itself as the oldest
Republican conference west of the Missis-
sippi, and they also say all Oregon Repub-
LHS has now won six
state titles in the past 10
years, claiming the title
in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018
(when it tied for fi rst) and
2019, all under the direc-
tion of Durfee. This is the
second time LHS has won
three straight state choir
titles — it won state cham-
pionships in 2001, 2002 and
2003 under the direction of
Michael Frasier.
LHS junior Samantha
Perry said she is proud to be
part of a program with such
a strong legacy and she was
delighted by the sense of
joy she saw on the faces of
her fellow choir members
when the fi nal results were
announced.
“I was so happy for
everybody,” she said.
Screams to remember
Many, including LHS
senior Kierstyn Harder,
expressed their emotions
vocally.
“I kind of screamed
and everyone else was
screaming too,” she said.
Junior Owen Rinker
credits this year’s state title
to the fact that everyone in
the choir made winning at
state a primary objective.
THE OBSERVER — A7
Dick Mason/The Observer, File
Tim McCloud, left, speaks with Steve West, a Union
County resident, on Thursday, April 28, 2022,
during a campaign stop in La Grande.
lican governors come through Dorchester,”
he said. “For them not to have reached out to
me or invited me says one thing.”
Thielman did attend the conference and
won the straw poll, something McCloud’s
name was left off of. McCloud sees a con-
nection between the events at the Linn
County forum and the results of the
Dorchester Conference contributing to
him being excluded from other guberna-
torial events. He said there are a number
of Oregon counties he has reached out to
multiple times since beginning his cam-
paign that he has heard no response from.
“We all had the same
goal and we worked
together,” he said.
Sophomore Kai Carson,
who is a member of the
choir with his brother,
Braden, a senior, noted that
their oldest sister, Marissa,
was a member of the LHS
A Cappella Choir when it
won a state title in 2015.
“It is nice to continue a
family tradition,” Carson
said.
LHS sophomore Kaitlin
Brock said she was not
McCloud said Oregon Republican National
Committeewoman Tracy Honl told him any
changes to party bylaws would occur after
this year’s election.
He believes there is strong evidence that
his race plays a part in all these events.
“All I am asking, as a legally qualifi ed
candidate, is to be treated equally among
other legally qualifi ed candidates, but that
is the exact opposite of what I have seen
in my experience as a Republican running
for offi ce,” he said. “Marc Thielman has
made several comments with me in the
room (involving race).”
Despite the unfair treatment he per-
ceives, McCloud said he is as “driven as
ever” to continue fi ghting for justice and
election integrity.
“I believe these actions are in direct vio-
lation of Oregon voter integrity because it
doesn’t give equal opportunity to legally
qualifi ed candidates within the party to
speak to their party members,” he said.
McCloud, a Linn County resident, is a
former Eastern Oregon University student
from 2012-2016 who works for an aero-
space and defense manufacturer as a busi-
ness analyst. During his time at EOU, he
was homeless and supporting his family,
which includes his wife and three daugh-
ters. He is four credits from graduating
with a degree in public administration and
a minor in business administration.
extremely tense at the state
championships and enjoyed
the experience.
“I didn’t feel pressure,”
she said. “It was fun to be
around friends and be close
to them.”
Attention to details
pays dividends
Sophomore Lana
Emerson said the success of
the LHS A Cappella Choir
is a credit to Durfee and his
wife, Kascie, its assistant
director.
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Maezie Wilcox, also a
sophomore, commented on
the Durfees’ attention to
details.
“They focus on the small
things to make us better,”
Willcox said.
Kevin Durfee agrees that
he and his wife are always
sticklers for details.
“We know what we
want to hear,” the director
said. “We are addicted to
high-quality sound. We are
relentlessly trying to get it
day after day.”
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Something powerful and beautiful is rising from the ashes across our
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And here, in our Oregon, that is what makes us —
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[ INSPIRING KINDNESS ACROSS OREGON ]
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