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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 2020)
A5 THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, NOvEmbER 5, 2020 ELECTION 2020 Weber outduels Boothe-Schmidt for state House By EDWARD STRATTON and NICOLE BALES The Astorian Tillamook Mayor Suzanne Weber out- dueled Debbie Boothe-Schmidt, a former trial assistant, in state House District 32, the first Republican to win the district in nearly two decades. With most of the votes counted, Weber had 54% to Boothe-Schmidt’s 46%. “I had no idea the amount of support that I really had,” Weber said. “I worried throughout the whole thing that reason wasn’t going to prevail, because of all the things that are happening in the world right now.” Weber has described herself as trying to bring the North Coast’s brand of rural common sense to Salem. Boothe-Schmidt, who owns Phog Bounders Antique Mall in Astoria, saw herself as a fair-minded for- mer union bargainer who would represent working families and small businesses. Boothe-Schmidt conceded in a post on Facebook. “I want to thank the work- ing people of this district who supported me, from teachers, to nurses, to businesses owners and the dozens of volunteers,” she said. “The fight to ensure we all recover better and more people in our community have living wage jobs, affordable housing, ‘I HAd NO IdEA THE AmOuNT OF SuPPORT THAT I REALLy HAd. I WORRIEd THROuGHOuT THE WHOLE THING THAT REASON WASN’T GOING TO PREvAIL, bECAuSE OF ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN THE WORLd RIGHT NOW.’ Suzanne Weber quality education and health care and clean air and drinking water is not over.” Weber said she wants to sit down with Boothe-Schmidt to discuss how the district can be represented in Salem on a bipar- tisan basis. The House district cov- ers Clatsop and parts of Tilla- mook and Washington counties. Boothe-Schmidt held a narrow advantage in Clatsop County, election returns show, but Weber swept Tillamook and Washing- ton counties. State Rep. Tiffiny Mitchell, D-Asto- ria, did not run for reelection because of a move to Washington state, leaving the seat open. Republicans saw the campaign as one of their best chances to flip a district Demo- crats have controlled since 2002. Campaign donors pumped more than $2 million into the race, with most of the money from interests based in Salem and Portland, making it among the most expensive in Oregon this year. Weber was largely backed by industry and regional businesses. Boothe-Schmidt was mainly sup- ported by labor unions. Weber has ridden the momentum of rural advocacy group #TimberUnity and a backlash against cap-and-trade legislation that would have taxed industrial polluters, such as the Georgia-Pacific Wauna Mill, for going over a carbon emissions cap. Mitchell faced a recall petition from #TimberUnity over her support for the climate change legislation. Republicans staged walkouts in 2019 and 2020 to avoid voting on the issue. Boothe-Schmidt, a board member on the Sunset Empire Transportation District, was hand-picked by Democrats to run for Mitchell’s seat. She was noncommittal on whether she would have supported cap and trade, while Weber would not say whether she would have joined the walkouts. The House race took a more combat- ive tone in the shadow of one of the most divisive presidential elections in U.S. his- tory. Weber’s campaign called Boothe- Schmidt a pawn of urban liberals who want to defund the police. Boothe-Schmidt’s campaign said Weber is no different than far-right conservatives wanting to restrict a woman’s independence in health care deci- sions like abortion. The candidates split on the corporate activity tax enacted by the state Legislature to finance the Student Success Act. The legislation is intended to add an estimated $1 billion a year in funding to help improve the state’s chronically poor graduation and dropout rates. Boothe-Schmidt, who supports the tax, claimed Weber wants to take education funding away. Weber, a retired teacher, called education funding her top priority but said the tax needs to be overhauled. Clatsop County voters reject Second Amendment sanctuary ‘THE FAILuRE OF THIS mEASuRE IS A vOTE OF SuPPORT FOR SHERIFF dEPuTIES, THE OFFICE OF SHERIFF ANd A SIGN OF TRuST IN THE dISCRETION WE ARE ALLOWEd TO EXERCISE IN CONSERvING THE PEACE.’ By NICOLE BALES The Astorian Voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure Tuesday to make Clatsop County a Second Amendment sanctuary. Measure 4-205, designed by gun rights activists, would have prohibited county resources from being used to enforce any local, state and federal law or regulation that restricts the right to keep and bear firearms, accessories or ammunition. The measure failed by a 61% to 39% margin. Leading up to the election, Sheriff Matt Phillips and the mayors of Astoria, Gear- hart, Seaside and Cannon Beach came out in opposition to the idea. Phillips also warned that the county could take legal action if the measure passed. “I appreciate that the voters of Clat- sop County educated themselves on this Sheriff Matt Phillips measure and recognized it was not what it appeared at first blush,” Phillips, who was officially elected sheriff on Tuesday, said in a text message. “The failure of this measure is a vote of support for sheriff deputies, the office of sheriff and a sign of trust in the discretion we are allowed to exercise in conserving the peace.” District Attorney Ron Brown had said he believes the measure was unconstitutional. Jim Hoffman, a leader in the Clatsop County Republican Party, collected the sig- natures to qualify the measure for the ballot. Rob Taylor, a gun rights activist from Coos County and chairman of the Com- mittee for the Preservation of the Second Amendment, helped craft the measure. Tay- lor also worked with the Oregon Firearms Federation and the Tenth Amendment Cen- ter to customize the measure for ballots in counties throughout the state. The measure was modeled after sanctu- ary laws that limit police cooperation with federal immigration agents. Hoffman said he thinks the opposition from elected leaders turned voters against the measure. “I think, unfortunately, that people just didn’t understand,” he said. “It wouldn’t stop law enforcement from doing their job. It wouldn’t stop, if say, somebody had an ille- gal gun — it wouldn’t stop them from tak- ing that gun.” Voters in Columbia, Coos and Uma- tilla counties also considered the measure Tuesday. The measure was narrowly passing in Columbia County. It was rejected in Coos County. 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