Salem, Oregon, Tuesday, Dumber 11, lP5t
THE CAPITAL JOURNAL
Section 2 Page 7
HEADS ELECTION DIVISION
Dave 0 'Earn Ans wer Man
To Problems in State Voting
- . . ;shV!l v'?v r,,: . : r:
7 Secretaries
Of Slate
Served
By JAMES D. OLSON'
Capital Journal Writer
Anytime during Ihe past 35 years
when an Oregon county clerk ran
into an election problem he called
O'Hara Expert on Elections
one man and always received the
right answer.
The man called was Dave 0'
Hara. who in 1320 organized the
election division of the secretary
of state's office and has been at
the head of it ever since.
Under 7 Secretaries
O'Hara has served under seven
secretaries, beginning with the late
Sam A. Koser and continuing un
der Hal E. Hoss, P. J. Stadelman,
Karl Snell. Robert S. Farrell, Jr.,
and the present Secretary of State
Earl T. Newbry.
When O'Hara set up the office
he engaged three girls and his
staff today still numbers three
girls, plus an assistant who has the
aid of a stenographer.
Outside of a week's illness in
,1948 and the customary summer
vacations, he hasn't missed a day
at work during the 40 years he has
been with the state.
O'Hara was born in Redwood
Kails, Minn., and came with his
parents west to Yakima and then
to Oregon in 1810. He graduated
from Willamette university law
school in 1915 and immediately ac
cepted a job offer of then Secre
tary of State Ben W. Olcott.
World War I Vet
His work was Interrupted by
World War I during which he
served 14 months in the service.
During O'Hara's long service in
the election division, numerous sit
uations, some humorous and others
bringing him worries, have occur
red. As an example, one man who
was among those who seem to look
at public offices as something
glamorous, ran for several posi
tions from time to time, always
with the same slogan "A deep
channel on the Columbia to the
sea."
"The man never won and I re
member the last position he ran
for was a seat on the state su
preme court," O'Hara said. "He
used his same slogan, although I
could not see how the high court
could assist in deepening the chan
nel of the Columbia."
O'Hara received a tongue lashing
from the late Congressman W. C.
Hawley when the latter found that
his slogan "No interest to serve
except the public interest" had
been changed in the Voters pam
phlet by a printer's error "No in
terest to serve but the party in
terest. " And the congressman was
a rocked ribbed Republican.
Period Wanted
Idiosyncrasy displayed by some
politicians often amused O'Hara
and he recalls that Gus. Moscr,
long a state senator iiom muiwiti-j
mah county, always insisted upon
a period being placed after his
first name, Gus.
"I failed to do so once during
Senator Moser's first term and he
told me about in no uncertain
terms" O'Hara said. "I put the
period after Gus. from then on
until he retired from the senate."
Slogans that arc contradictory
always bring smiles to O'Hara's
face. He has seen many of these
la i 3 I . & ' i
When questions concerning elections in Oregon arises the man
with the answer is Dave O'Hara, long-time head of the elections
division of the secretary of state's office. (Capital Journal Photo)
but the one he remembers best is
the promise of a candidate to "in
crease all old age pensions, pro
vide more generous school support
and vote for lower taxes."
During his many years in office
O'Hara has handled many thou
sands of dollars in fees paid by
candidates and in this connection
he got a real scare about 8 or 10
years ago, when a check for 100
could not be found, For several
days the office was searched and
finally one of the stenographers in
the oflice looked into one oi tier
desk drawers and pulled out some,
papers, the check falling out. She
had inadvertently placed the check
in among the papers and forgotten
about it.
One situation arose some years
ago which might have turned out
to be serious, but fortunately didn't.
A Democrat who had spent many
years in Washington, D.C., return
ed to Oregon and ran for United
States senator. He also filed for a
delegate to the Democratic nation
al convention.
After he had been dubbed a "car-,
petbagger" by some of the state's
newspapers he withdrew as a can
didate for the senate.
A county clerk in Southern Ore
gon telephoned the then secretary
of slate and asked if this man had
withdrawn. He was told that he
did. so the name of the candidate
was removed entirely from the bal
lot. Votes in other counties gave this
man a large majority for the dele
gate job, but O'Hara said had the
race been close or had it happen-
A
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$1 with
ElCtRiCaL
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keeps on giving . , . give an ELECTRICAL
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Electric Ranee
Electric Water Heatei
Automatic S aher
Automatic Dryer
Rcfriccrator
Home I reeer
Automatic Irnner
acuum C leaner
Electric Dnhasher
ToaMcr
Waffle Iron
New Lamp
Electric Grills
Electric Muer
For the MEN in your life
h lectnc Raor
Radio for Uarkshop
Electric Dr.T
Fiectnc Saws
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t 'ecu ic Barbecue
Electric Red Onerirg
Portable Television
Dek Lamp
Electric Clock
LiQueftcrs
Corn Popper
Electric Knife Sharpener
Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you!
0 PORTLAND GENERAL SLfctTKit wmpani
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tm iishop's ioys Dept :
A , r I vV' A ifSSk 5? T '..1 . I : ;
f 3 I ! i:;
5por I Car Coats f Swife yadtefo 'lt
2 4 - tit l ... n j ft While Stag, Pacific Trails, Sportscaslcr . j
J LtOatS ?h? J. P"PuJf 'h" rL.,Tw,'"Ls ' & Myons Irl5 fhi lalt .'t'!"r.r col". tZL J?mLl i ' i I'
8 Splash weaves, plain weaves. All the onqu'iS" ""U """"" " fV Sues 2-12, 13-20. Slim, and Huskies. V ,u, inKi ft weV.hi'rpr Si S -
5! new winter shades. Chrose from our 'F W ' i ','20' a
! 4. ,7.so K . 12" .19' f IWO00 I 6" 16 - '
I fJ f iif I of Gift j: ;
m s .7 ooo o c i
W A S Arrow shirts-just like Dads. Plain and . Any boy would like one of thiw warm
Slacks are a fine sift for any younc man. O French cuffs. In sleeve lengths. White, l-av 'J comfortable sweaters. Lambs wool , orlon
,l,han S We have wool flannels, rayon flannels I tels and pin point polka dot. Sues 4 14 and and combinations. Sues -!;, .1D-4Z.
,c K and gabardines. . J 12'-i-14'i. 0(i O'J
?Vh? I Sizes M2 0J, to 8 S - K
r 1 sizes 27-3 oJ, , W gf ';itfmtbk fc&Z&ti
1 'm S&pl
For the KIDDIES in your lift ' VK ) ' jn'
riciinc swi ur. j'iKS" vKf-i W M rs LU V
Hlr,cttnMB.irn,ntSel S t.,? , ffiS'iSSr!
"ImnMoimcr H ' 'J ft'-K c . I V
i K Wm&y Jr mamas
Mouc Pn,ecior 5; M jw & '
Hectnc Clock iS ly I 10 V J-ke your cluim from a big array ol
Hccinc Motor , f I f 1J Q Pali",a t115. flannels and broad
IS To keep his head and ears toasty warm .a ;, , ,, mh. lik. n,rt' V V ,'HAP SKrh .,, S ; i I
h.rp aro alhpr nv r.n wiV.l traharrhne '. - ...... V.J jiuw ia if I
i caps. Most with car flaps. Also tton J Sum 4 20 ' jd
3 caps. f ft
ed to some other candidate- who
lost or won by a few votes, he ac
tually doesn't know what would
have happened.
O'Hara's relations with the coun
ty clerks of the state have always
been extremely good and a num
ber of years ago he was made an
honorary members of the state as
sociation of county clerks.
As one who has had probably the
closest contact to Oregon election
laws O'Hara declares that a com
plete revision of Oregon's corrup
practices act is Ihe greatest i.i-t
and says it must be d nc by the
legislature some day. ile also fa
vors a realistic limitation to cam
paign expenditures and laws that
will afford the people a real pic
ture of what money has been spent
in campaigns by both candidates,
committees and individuals. And
he declares the most important
recommendation he would offer,
would be to require all special elec
tions to raise money be held in
conjunction with regular primary
or general election, so a represen
tative number of voters could pass
on the proposals.
Too many huge expenditures, he
says, are now approved by a hand
ful of people who place a heavy
burden on the taxpayers of a dis
trict, a city or a county.
PIANO & ORGAN SALE
New Spinal $395.00 Trmt
Blonda 44"-Rg. $1015.00 Now
S550 00
Sava $400 en Electric Organi
THE MUSIC CENTER
493 Csntftr Sfraat
Pajamas
y.ike your chiw from a big array nf
pajamas knits, flannels and broad-
cloto. bit 4 '40.
P.
SrOHT MHItlS in corduroy, wools, gab
ardines, stripes, checks and fancies. Ivy
League BtylinR. Sires 4-20.
2.25 to 1 2 M
I.KTTKK.MKN SWKATKHS Replicas
of Oregon Slate, U of O and Willamette
sweaters.
Sizes 26, 95. Sizes 8-14, 05
Mil.TS by Tcxtan . . . Browns, blacks,
tans, Brays & pastels. J .1)0 and up.
TIKS (Mir in hands, ready tied, bows
and the new Cord ties to wear with sport
iris. JO1' I" 1 ,nl)
TKI-: SIIIHTS - with no-sag ncrks by
Munsinnwear. .00 and up.
J I : V 1 : 1 . II Y - lie clasps and cuff link
Sets. SO and up.
SOCKS Stretch 4 plain types.
39r i 1 .so
CVS AMI 1HM.STKR SKTS
2 SO to y.RK
CHAP SKTS-
!lj to 0 75
V1 BOYS DEPARTMENT
tk 'Open Nights Til Chnstms?:
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