Election Endorsements
Below are our recommendations for candidates in contested races and one local money measure in the May primary. Ballots go in
the mail April 28 and must be received by the Lane County Elections Department by 8 pm May 16. In non-partisan local races, any
candidate who gets more than 50 percent of the votes cast goes on to be uncontested in the November general election.
Governor, Democrats. Pete Sorenson
We endorse Pete Sorenson because we share his positions
on all the big issues and because he had the guts to open up
this race, taking on an incumbent governor, even forcing
him to move to the left. Long before Jim Hill decided to
run against Gov. Kulongoski, Sorenson was kick-starting
the conversation that people all over this state should be
having with their political leaders. He uses humor, often
directed at himself — that’s rare in modern politics. And he
will stick to the right position even if it leaves him at the short
end of a 4-1 vote, often the case in the Lane County
Commission.
saved rural residents millions of dollars. The incumbent Faye Stewart is a timber baron
heir heavily backed and beholding to lumber, development and gravel pit interests.
County Commissioner, West. William Fleenor
Bill Fleenor came to Oregon for the natural beauty and quality of life and wants to
serve the public interest by protecting that strong driver of the economy. Fleenor has expe-
rience as head of a large business, on the board of the coastal public utility and holds a doc-
torate in animal physiology. Morrison, who previously lobbied for the timber industry, has
a far-right voting record and is heavily obliged to the logging, gravel pit and developer
interests bankrolling her election.
Pete Sorenson
County Assessor. Anette Spickard
With a bias like ours, should we be advising votes for any of the three Republican can-
didates! Probably not. Mannix, Atkinson, and Saxton are all tilting so far to the right to win
in the Republican primary that they escape our radar. But we do have one small sugges-
tion for our 13,000 or so Republican readers. Keep your eyes on state Senator Ben
Westlund from Bend. A former Republican, he’s running for governor as an independent
in November. That way he escapes the primary, saving his more moderate self from the
Republican right.
Anette Spickard, a Democrat in this nonpartisan race, has the endorsements of the retir-
ing county tax assessor and a diverse array of local officials including all five county com-
missioners, the district attorney and mayor of Eugene. She has management experience as
deputy assessor for the past year, number crunching experience as a trained accountant,
and elected and budgetary experience as a 4J School Board member. We hope the experi-
ence of chronically underfunded schools impressed upon her the need to not let lax assess-
ments drain property tax revenues. Spickard’s opponents are Republicans Gary Cook and
Bill Mahn, both of whom have more experience with property appraisal but less of the
management and political experience needed for this job.
Superintendent of Public Instruction. Susan Castillo, nonpartisan
Eugene Councilor, Ward 3. Alan Zelenka
Ideal result would be if Susan Castillo would win 50-plus percent of the votes in the
primary so she could forget about campaigning and continue her work for “stable and ade-
quate funding for our schools.” Her only opponent, Deb Andrews, is not even a close sec-
ond to Castillo. It’s difficult to measure how successful a super-
intendent of public instruction is in this educationally
deprived state, but Castillo is smart, high energy, experi-
enced in the legislative process, respected, and always
upbeat for the possibilities of funding solutions. We
endorse her again for this spot and hopes she keeps on
moving up in public life.
Alan Zelenka is endorsed by the Oregon League of Conservation Voters and local pro-
gressives including Mayor Kitty Piercy and Councilors David Kelly and Betty Taylor and
County Commissioner Pete Sorenson. Zelenka has experience
as a neighborhood leader and in environmental conserva-
tion for the Emerald People’s Utility District. He calls
for putting the people’s interests above special inter-
ests. Both Zelenka and his opponent Bruce Mulligan
have served as chairman of the city of Eugene Budget
Committee. On the committee Zelenka showed a
willingness to undertake a much needed examination
of the efficiency of the city’s exorbitant police depart-
ment whereas Mulligan couldn’t throw enough money at
the cops. Zelenka’s other opponent, Jana Jackson, appears
to be running on a campaign of opposing police reform in
Alan Zelenka
the wake of officer sex abuse scandals.
Governor, Republicans. No preference
Supreme Court Judge, Position 6. Gene
Hallman
The only contested Oregon Supreme court race, this one
is interesting. Oregon is one of only three states without a
woman on the supreme court and this time a woman,
Virginia Linder, is running. Eugene has a hometown guy,
Jack Roberts, going after this seat, and EW is likely to support our locals. But this time,
our favorite is Gene Hallman, a Pendleton attorney who would be the first justice elected
outside the Willamette valley in nearly two decades. For 30 years Hallman has been work-
ing in the trenches representing individuals and small businesses in hu;ndreds of cases.
He’s not a part of the Salem-Portland legal establishments, but he has bipartisan support
from all over the state. As Judy Snyder, past president of the Multnomah bar association,
says, “There’s no candidate in this race who has done more to advance the cause of women
and to fight discrimination and unequal treatment.”
Susan Castillo
Eugene City Councilor, Ward 6. Rich Cunningham
Rich Cunningham has experience as a school board member, economic development
official, school softball coach and father of disabled kids. The conservative Democrat
promises to bring less far right-wing positions to this Bethel-area seat on the City Council.
Incumbent Republican Jennifer Solomon is the granddaughter of timber baron Stub
Stewart and was one of those people financing the anonymous and divisive attack ads from
the Gang of 9. Her election was bankrolled by timber, development, gravel pit and sprawl
interests for whom she is a reliable vote.
EWEB, Wards 4 & 5. Ron Farmer
Lane County Circuit Court Judge. Alan Leiman or Debra Vogt
It’s a little dangerous predicting how voters will vote, but we’ll do it anyway. Four can-
didates are running to succeed Judge Bryan Hodges on the Circuit Court, so it’s likely that
none will receive more than 50 percent of the vote, thus forcing a runoff between the top
two in November. Based on Bar polls, campaigns, chatter and our own research, Alan
Leiman and Debra Vogt are the top contenders. We see strengths in both candidates, and
even the “loser” in this election is likely to end up on the bench soon since several judges
are facing retirement. We’re split at EW, so we humbly suggest that you vote for either
Leiman or Vogt in May and we promise to dig for more definition before November. See
our story this week for information on all the candidates.
In challenging an incumbent EWEB commissioner in an otherwise uncontested race,
UO student and environmentalist Ashley Miller has her heart in the right place. But in this
case, experience counts, and Ron Farmer is simply better qualified to sit on the utility
board. His eyes may glaze over at the word “environment,” but he seems loyal to EWEB’s
mission of diversifying renewable energy sources and improving energy conservation.
And Farmer, a bank president, has good fiscal sense. He joined the board shortly after the
2001 energy crisis, and was instrumental in getting the utility out of debt and into calmer
financial waters. Every board needs its fiscal leader, and Farmer has proven his capacity
to fill that role as an EWEB commissioner.
Bethel Local Option Levy, 20-109. Yes
County Commissioner, East. Ron Davis
Ron Davis’s positions on growth, freeways, tax breaks, hospital sprawl, tax increases,
crime prevention and other important county issues favor the public interest, the environ-
ment and good government. The personable hospital lab scientist has deep roots in Cottage
Grove and experience as a teacher and one of the founders of EPUD, a public utility that’s
Bethel School District residents will see a five-year property tax levy on their ballots
that would generate about $1.6 million a year to support staffing levels and programs, buy
new books and computers, and fund the Bethel Math Project to boost achievement. In our
time of crisis in public school funding, districts need all the help they can get. Meaningful
action on education by the Legislature is likely still years away.
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