NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, April 5, 2022
Political candidates vie for voters’ attention as primary looms
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — As Oregon’s
political campaigns head into
the final stretch before the
May 17 primary, candidates
on the left and right are work-
ing for votes among their
ideological base to win the
closed primaries. With only
party members able to vote
in partisan primary races, the
turnout is usually about half
of the general election.
Republicans are seeking
votes of Republican activists
who won’t skip the primary,
while Democrats go after
the progressive wing of
their party who turn out in
large numbers for prima-
ries. It’s also a time when
lesser-known candidates can
make a splash and draw the
attention of the party faith-
ful. That’s been the story in
recent days in political action
around the state.
Dave Killen/The Oregonian
Alsea School District Super-
intendent Marc Thielman,
who’s running for gover-
nor, says the Oregon Health
Authority and the Oregon
Department of Education
“need to stop being science
deniers and catch up with
this virus.”
Kerry McQuisten for Oregon/Contributed Photo
Baker City mayor
speaks at a right-wing
rally in Salem
Oregon Republican gubernatorial candidate and Baker City
Mayor Kerry McQuisten, right, stands Friday, April 1, 2022,
at the Reawaken America rally in Keizer with former Gen.
Michael Flynn, who President Donald Trump pardoned of
charges he lied about contacts with Russian agents while
working at the White House.
Baker City Mayor Kerry
McQuisten, a Republi-
can candidate for governor,
appeared at the Reawaken
America rally of radical
conservatives on Friday,
April 1, near the Capitol in
the Salem suburb of Keizer.
The event was sponsored by
The River Church in Salem,
a church active in conser-
involving the enforcement
of coronavirus restrictions at
the Deschutes County fair-
grounds.
T he Salem St at es-
man-Journal reported that
stores at Keizer Station mall
vative politics, and held at
Volcano Stadium, a former
minor league baseball park
near Interstate 5.
Originally scheduled to be
held in Bend, the event was
canceled due to questions
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
| Go to AccuWeather.com
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
next to the ballpark decided
to close April 1 and 2 because
of the rally and expected
counterprotests.
Keizer is the latest stop
on a national tour focus-
ing on debunked claims
that the 2020 election was
“stolen” from former Pres-
ident Donald Trump, and
COVID-19 conspiracy theo-
ries.
Photos on Twitter showed
McQuisten with Morrow
County Sheriff Ken Matlack
and former Gen. Michael
Flynn, who President Donald
Trump pardoned of charges
Partly sunny
52° 30°
58° 34°
Sunshine, pleasant
and warmer
Breezy in the
afternoon
Partly sunny,
breezy and cooler
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
71° 45°
55° 33°
65° 38°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
58° 30°
63° 32°
74° 43°
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71° 42°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
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PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
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TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
51/34
46/26
56/25
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Kennewick Walla Walla
52/33
Lewiston
53/31
61/31
Astoria
51/33
Pullman
Yakima 57/28
52/29
53/33
Portland
Hermiston
55/34
The Dalles 58/30
Salem
Corvallis
54/32
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
45/26
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
55/32
47/25
44/22
Ontario
55/28
Caldwell
Burns
59°
49°
63°
37°
81° (1944) 24° (2009)
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Albany
54/33
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WINDS (in mph)
53/26
47/14
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3.34"
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through 3 p.m. yest.
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TEMP.
Pendleton 41/21
55/33
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
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HERMISTON
Enterprise
52/30
57/32
58°
45°
60°
38°
79° (1960) 24° (1896)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
52/29
Aberdeen
51/27
54/31
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
52/35
Today
Wed.
Boardman WSW 12-25
Pendleton WSW 15-25
Medford
57/34
NE 4-8
NE 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
49/20
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
6:28 a.m.
7:28 p.m.
8:37 a.m.
none
First
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NATIONAL EXTREMES
Other GOP candidates
taking a hard right on
campaign trail
Marc Thielman, a Repub-
lican candidate for governor
who appeared with Senate
candidate Darin Harbick and
Deschutes County Commis-
sioner Patti Adair with a
QAnon-supporting pastor
at a Bend church last week,
gained notice while he was
superintendent of the Alsea
School District near Corval-
lis for refusing to enforce
state coronavirus mandates.
He resigned in February. He’s
the subject of a $3.7 million
lawsuit against the district
by the principal of Alsea
Elementary School, who
alleges a hostile work envi-
ronment, sexual harassment,
gender discrimination and
whistleblower retaliation.
Willamette Week reports
Thielman is scheduled to
speak April 15 at a fundraiser
for Dan Tooze, a Repub-
lican candidate for House
District 40 in the Oregon
City area. Tooze is a self-de-
scribed member of the Proud
Boys, a group involved in
riots in downtown Portland,
the Oregon Capitol and the
Jan. 6 attack on the U.S.
Capitol. Tooze has not said he
was at any of those incidents.
Reed Christensen, an
electrical engineer from Hill-
sboro, faces federal charges
for allegedly assaulting law
enforcement officers while
attempting to enter the U.S.
Capitol on Jan. 6. Chris-
tensen has made his arrest the
centerpiece of his campaign
for governor, saying he was
trying to oppose “tyranny”
by taking part in the riot’s
attempt to stop the count of
electoral votes that Joe Biden
won the presidential election.
Jo Rae Perkins, a candi-
date for the U.S. Senate
seat held by U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden, D-Oregon, also has
taken the QAnon pledge. She
was the GOP nominee for the
U.S. Senate in 2020, losing
to incumbent U.S. Sen. Jeff
Merkley, D-Oregon.
Trial delayed in construction fraud case
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
Partly sunny;
winds subsiding
he lied about contacts with
Russian agents while work-
ing at the White House.
Flynn also has appeared in
a video taking “the Qanon
Oath” of the far-right politi-
cal conspiracy group, which
ends with “Where we go one,
we go all.”
McQuisten has made
an energetic bid to break
through the crowded Repub-
lican field for governor,
which includes former House
Minority Leader Christine
Drazan, Sandy Mayor Bill
Pulliam and 2016 GOP nomi-
nee for governor Bud Pierce
of Salem.
McQuisten was recently
endorsed by The North-
west Observer, a popular
conservative political blog
in Oregon.
BAKER CITY — The
trial of a Baker City man
accused of taking money
from customers for construc-
tion work he failed to start, or
in some cases to finish, has
been postponed after two
attorneys appointed to repre-
sent him withdrew.
Kenneth Edward Hackett,
51, was slated to go to trial
April 25 in Baker County
Circuit Court.
Hackett was arrested on
June 19, 2021, following an
investigation by the Baker
City Police and Baker County
Sheriff’s Office into construc-
tion fraud complaints. Two
incidents involved a combined
loss of $78,000, according to a
June 2021 press release from
Baker City Police.
A grand jury indictment
in June 2021 included three
counts:
• Aggravated first-degree
theft, $10,000 or more, from
Barbara Duran.
• Aggravated first-degree
theft, $10,000 or more, from
Jerry Martin.
• First-degree theft, $1,000
or more, from Robert Anders.
A new indictment on
Aug. 26, 2021, added four
additional counts:
• First-degree theft, $1,000
or more, from Therese
Holthausen.
• First-degree theft, $1,000
or more, from Kurt Gronbach.
• Aggravated first-degree
theft, $10,000 or more, from
Carol or Tim Delsman.
• First-degree theft, $1,000
or more, from Michael Rags-
dale.
Greg Baxter, Baker
County district attorney, said
a charge can be elevated from
first-degree theft, a Class C
felony, to aggravated first-de-
gree theft, a Class B felony,
if the amount is $10,000 or
more, or if the victim is 65 or
older.
Robert Whitnah of Baker
City was appointed in July
2021 to represent Hackett.
Whitnah filed a motion
on March 14, 2022, to with-
draw as Hackett’s attorney,
and Judge Matt Shirtcliff
approved that motion the
same day.
Another Baker City
attorney, Bob Moon, was
appointed on March 16 to
represent Hackett.
Moon filed a motion to
withdraw as Hackett’s attor-
ney on March 25.
Shirtcliff approved Moon’s
order on March 31.
A status check on the
case has been scheduled for
April 19.
Baxter said his office is
prepared to go the trial.
Neither Whitnah nor
Moon cited a reason for with-
drawing as Hackett’s attor-
ney.
Whitnah in his motion
wrote, “I cannot disclose
further specific grounds for
this request without violating
the Oregon Rules of Profes-
sional Conduct.”
Moon wrote in his motion
that “for ethical reasons, I
cannot disclose the reason
that I must withdraw as the
attorney of record.”
Three other alleged fraud
cases reported to Baker City
Police in 2021 were settled by
civil action between the resi-
dents and Hackett, according
to a Baker City Police June
2021 press release.
According to the Oregon
Contractor Construction
Board, Hackett never has
been a licensed contractor in
Oregon.
The agency fined Hackett
five times between 2009 and
2021 for working without a
license, said Leslie Culpepper,
communications and educa-
tion manager for the Contrac-
tor Construction Board.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 94° in Zapata, Texas Low 14° in Granby, Colo.
IN BRIEF
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Repair work on NE Oregon
bridges progresses
LA GRANDE — Repairs on local
bridges are underway in the La Grande area.
The Oregon Department of Transportation
provided an update on three bridges being
worked on, while detailing next week’s plans.
According to a press release from ODOT
on Friday, April 1, work may be delayed this
week as the department waits on steel anchors
to be delivered.
The Second Street Bridge across Inter-
state 84 still is closed to vehicular traffic,
but bicycles and pedestrians can cross over.
This week’s work will include work on the
bridge deck and edge of the bridge, as well
as expansion joints.
The McAlister Road Bridge repair work
will include drilling holes for the new concrete
bridge rail and minor repairs to the bridge
deck. According to the press release, workers
will be flagging intermittently with delays of
up to 20 minutes between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
on weekdays. During non-working hours,
there will be no traffic delays.
The OR86 bridge over I-84 at the Richland
Interchange will include drilling holes for steel
anchors on the new concrete bridge trail. The
work will result in intermittent flagging with
delays on the same schedule as the McAlister
Road Bridge. Similarly, there will be no traffic
delays during non-working hours.
Further details on the bridge repair projects
can be found on the ODOT website.
— EO Media Group
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