PRIMARY ELECTION 2020 GUIDE
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2020
Five candidates vie for Umatilla County commissioner
By ALEX CASTLE
STAFF WRITER
Ballots have been mailed
out for the May 19 primary
election in Oregon, and vot-
ers of all parties will have a
chance to vote for a candidate
to replace Umatilla County
Commissioner Bill Elfering,
who is stepping down after
eight years in office.
The top two vote-get-
ters in the May election
will advance to a head-to-
head competition during the
November election, and the
winner of that vote will take
office in January 2021.
The position is nonparti-
san, and candidates can be
from anywhere in Umatilla
County. Five candidates have
filed: HollyJo Beers, Dan
Dorran, Mark Gomolski,
Patricia Maier and Jonathan
Lopez. Below are excerpts
from interviews with the can-
didates, taken from longer
profiles published in the East
Oregonian and available in
full length at www.eastorego-
nian.com.
Jonathan Lopez
An associate pastor at
Hermiston’s Living Springs
Apostolic Church and the
chief executive officer of the
Einstein Learning Center,
Jonathan Lopez, 29, has com-
mitted himself to the Uma-
tilla County community in
his short time here.
“I have no political back-
ground or involvement in my
past history, but I am a per-
son who always cares and is
concerned for his commu-
nity,” he said. “If I’m being
prosperous, if I’m being suc-
cessful, then I shouldn’t be
content with other people’s
misery.”
Lopez is now focused on
dedicating himself to help-
ing the local community
progress, which he hopes to
achieve as the next Umatilla
County commissioner.
“I want to work for all the
residents of Umatilla County.
I want to reestablish our place
in the world so that they can
see our potential and what we
have here as a county in the
state of Oregon,” he said.
Lopez was born in Los
Angeles and moved to Har-
risonburg, Virginia, when
he was 10 years old, where
he was raised and lived until
moving to Hermiston at the
end of 2017.
That fact, coupled with
him being more than 30 years
younger than any of the other
commissioner
candidates,
could label Lopez as the
new kid on the block. Lopez
doesn’t want to use that youth
to completely overhaul the
ideas and perspectives of the
area’s older generations, but
rather hopes to be a unifier
between generations.
“Age brings wisdom,
but me being younger also
allows me to connect with
other populations, such as the
young couples coming to the
area,” he says. “I could be a
good bridge between both
generations.”
Lopez is also a member
of the Hermiston Hispanic
Advisory Committee, and
as the COVID-19 pandemic
has escalated over the past
months, he’s committed him-
self to disseminating bilin-
gual information on his social
media pages to keep a portion
of the population that data
shows has been especially
vulnerable to the virus.
He may be young and rel-
atively new to the area, but
Lopez feels his fresh per-
spective and commitment
to the community can help
lead Umatilla County toward
progress.
“I believe that if we use
our county to its best capabil-
ities, we can make it shine,”
he says.
Patricia Maier
The owner of local gen-
eral contracting company,
Pat Maier, 73, has spent just
about her entire life in small
business.
In those 17 years of doing
business throughout the
county, Maier and her com-
pany, 1-A Construction &
Fire, have had to navigate
environmental regulations,
public utility companies,
property disputes and other
challenges during her 17
years in business.
“I don’t think any of the
other candidates has the
background in business that
I have,” she said. “If you’ve
been in business for 17 years,
you’ve been through the ups
and the downs.”
Maier plans to use that
experience of keeping a small
business afloat and solv-
ing the problems that come
her way to propel her into
becoming the next Umatilla
County commissioner.
“When I run into a prob-
lem, I have to tackle that
problem and I have to solve
that problem,” Maier says.
“I believe in action. I believe
in working for what I get. I
believe in going to work and
taking care of things.”
Maier hopes to represent a
fresh addition to the county,
which she says has been
bogged down by too many
“good ole boys” who have
held elected positions, some-
thing she proudly proclaims
she’s not part of.
Born and raised in Strong
City, Kansas, Maier now
resides in Hermiston and her
background also includes
serving as an administrator
for Northwest Pipeline and as
the former director of United
Way of Umatilla and Mor-
row Counties. She also high-
lights that she’s worked in
the health care and railroad
industries, along with being a
member of her neighborhood
watch organizations.
As a commissioner, Maier
wants to use her insight as a
small business owner to help
each corner of the county
thrive economically. To
achieve her goal, Maier aims
to connect individually and
better understand each city
so they can identify oppor-
tunities for growth, which is
what she says she did back
in Hermiston during the
mid-1980s.
Maier currently boasts a
personal endorsement from
Suni Danforth, the chair of
the Umatilla County Republi-
can Party, which she believes
she earned by being the con-
servative candidate in the
race who’s ready to get to
work for Umatilla County.
CANDIDATES AT A GLANCE
JONATHAN LOPEZ
Age: 29
Residence: Hermiston
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
Years in Umatilla County: 3
Highest level of education: Masters in
business administration at Georgetown
University
Occupation: CEO of Einstein Learning
Center, associate pastor at Living Springs
Apostolic Church in Hermiston.
Lopez
PATRICIA MAIER
Age: 73
Residence: Hermiston
Birthplace: Strong City, Kansas
Years in Umatilla County: 48
Highest level of education: Studied busi-
ness and accounting at Butler Community
College (Kansas)
Occupation: Small business owner
Maier
MARK GOMOLSKI
Age: 62
Residence: Hermiston
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
Years in Umatilla County: 7 years
Highest level of education: Two years at
St. Xavier College in Chicago
Occupation: Retired
Gomolski
DAN DORRAN
Age: 64
Residence: Hermiston
Birthplace: Walla Walla, Washington
(raised in Hermiston)
Years in Umatilla County: 52 (12 years
spent in Alaska)
Highest level of Education: Oregon State
University, five years studying resource
economics
Occupation: Dealer sales manager at Atlas
Copco
Dorran
HOLLYJO BEERS
Age: 66
Residence: Milton-Freewater
Birthplace: Pendleton (raised in Pilot Rock)
Years in Umatilla County: 66
Highest level of Education: Eastern
Oregon University, bachelor’s degree in
liberal arts with minors in criminal justice
and history
Occupation: Retired
“I believe in conservatism,
I believe in our way of life,
and I believe in the every-
day people,” she says. “I will
work hard for the everyday
person, and I am not in the
pocket of anyone.”
Mark Gomolski
Born and raised in Chi-
cago, Mark Gomolski, 62,
was only 10 when he lost his
father to a heart attack. With
his mother under the pressure
to financially support their
family, Gomoslki tried to
apply for a permit so he could
legally get a job at age 14.
Gomolski was denied the
permit, but resiliently wrote a
letter to the editor of Chicago
Today detailing his situation.
Chicago City Hall eventu-
ally got wind of the letter,
and it ended up in front of the
mayor at the time.
The mayor then sent a
member of his staff to con-
tact Gomolski and his mother
to set up a meeting, where
Gomoslki was told he’d be
getting his permit and an
opportunity to work for the
city.
“He had told me back
then that as long as he was
mayor, I would have a job
in the city,” Gomolski says.
Beers
“As a 14-year-old trying to
help support your family, that
leaves an impression.”
As a candidate for Uma-
tilla County commissioner,
Gomolski is running to work
for the people and give back
to the community that he now
calls home.
“People need a commis-
sioner who will listen to
them, help them when pos-
sible and who will not for-
get them,” he says. “I will not
forget you.”
Gomolski moved to Uma-
tilla County seven years
ago after a career in Cook
County, Illinois, government
and today is retired in Herm-
iston, where he’s served for
three years on the Hermis-
ton School Board and been
a member of the Hermiston
Hispanic Advisory Commit-
tee. He also served on Uma-
tilla County’s charter review
board, helped Elfering with
his 2016 campaign, and is a
volunteer for organizations
such as Agape House and
Our Lady of Angels Catholic
Church.
While much of his profes-
sional experience is in gov-
ernment work, Gomolski
feels he embodies the aver-
age, everyday working indi-
vidual and is striving to rep-
resent those like him in
the 2020 race for Umatilla
County commissioner.
“I’m just an average guy
trying to do what’s right for
my community,” he says.
ble to make a real difference
if you know how to work
well with and navigate these
diverse boards and commit-
tees of people,” he says.
Dan Dorran
Nothing is more sacred to
HollyJo Beers than the U.S.
Constitution.
As one of five candidates
running in the May 19 pri-
mary for the only open seat on
the Umatilla County Board
of Commissioners, Beers,
66, is promising the nation’s
foundational document will
guide her as she aims to use
her mixture of local and state-
wide political activism to bet-
ter represent the voices of
Umatilla County.
“I’m not a part of the good
ol’ boys club, and I’m not a
‘yes’ man,” she said. “ I am a
constitutionalist. I believe in
the Constitution and in pro-
tecting the people’s rights,
and for liberty and justice
for all people of Umatilla
County.”
Though she’ll readily
acknowledge her minimal
experience in holding elected
office, Beers, who resides in
Milton-Freewater, has lived
in Umatilla County all her
life and worked a variety of
jobs.
Now retired, in the last five
years, Beers has been politi-
cally engaged with Umatilla
County’s chapter of the Ore-
gon Three Percenters, a group
she now leads locally that is
devoted to resisting infringe-
ments on the Constitution by
the U.S. government.
In Umatilla County,
the Oregon Three Percen-
ters have particularly peti-
tioned and lobbied for greater
protections of the Second
Amendment, which Beers
claims as essential to protect-
ing the rest.
“Once the Second Amend-
ment goes, you have no way
to defend yourself from the
rest of them falling,” she says.
Nationally, the Three Per-
centers have been associated
with protests against immi-
grants and refugees. The
Southern Poverty Law Cen-
ter has labeled the group as
“anti-government extrem-
ists,” a label Beers strongly
disagrees with.
“We are not anti-gov-
ernment, we’re anti-cor-
rupt government,” she said.
“That’s been a common lib-
eral description of our move-
ment. When people around
here look at me, they don’t
see that.”
Beers has has been fight-
ing urgently for over the last
half decade for Umatilla
County voices to be heard in
Salem, by traveling around
the state, attending rallies and
organizing local ones of her
own.
“I want to come back here
to Umatilla County and insti-
tute the things that I have
learned and the ways that we
can deal with some of the
laws coming out of Salem,”
she says.
Locally, Beers says her
top objectives are economic
development, homelessness
and government accessibility.
“I think I bring a fresh
voice, a different perspective,
and a new look at things,” she
says.
Dan Dorran’s father
always used to tell him to
never run for public office.
“It’s easier to accomplish
things behind the scenes,”
Dorran recalls the advice
from his late father and local
pioneer of the energy indus-
try, Russ Dorran.
While perhaps not com-
pletely behind the scenes,
Dorran, 64, has served for
decades as an appointed or
volunteer member of various
infrastructure committees,
fair boards and chambers of
commerce.
And after all that experi-
ence, Dorran believes he’s
poised to be the candidate
in a crowded race for Uma-
tilla County commissioner
who will not only be able to
accomplish his goals while in
office, but be able to do so the
moment he steps into it.
“What it really boils down
to is, how are we going to be
ready to address issues on
January 1, 2021? He said.
“And I think I am the pre-
pared candidate — I will be a
day one candidate.”
Born in Walla Walla,
Washington, and raised in
Hermiston, where he resides
today, Dorran was a fixture
on the Umatilla County Fair
Board for nearly 20 years
and served three terms as
president.
He was also a member
of the steering committee
that worked on the $21 mil-
lion development of the East-
ern Oregon Trade and Event
Center in Hermiston that is
now home to the fair.
Most recently, Dorran
served on the county’s charter
review committee in 2019,
and currently sits on boards
for the Farm-City Pro Rodeo
and Umatilla County 4-H
Association.
Mixed with Dorran’s com-
munity involvement is 22
years of professional experi-
ence at Atlas Copco, a Swed-
ish multi-billion dollar global
engineering and manufactur-
ing corporation.
“The one thing that is
always important to me is
you get something done.
You set goals, you get things
done,” he said. “It’s the abil-
ity to get along together with
very diverse boards and
come up with a consensus
that moves the ball forward
towards whatever the goal is
that you set.”
According to Dorran, he’s
already coalesced support-
ers that include over a dozen
members of the county fair
board and steering committee
whom he served with, along
with an endorsement from
Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner.
He may not have fol-
lowed the advice of his late
father, but Dorran is con-
vinced he doesn’t have to
remain behind the scenes for
the county to reach its goals
in 2020 and beyond.
“I’m not sure what he’d
say now, but I think things
have changed and it’s possi-
HollyJo Beers
Candidates for Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District speak at forums
HERMISTON HERALD
Primary candidates for
Oregon’s 2nd Congressional
District shared their vision
last weekend at a series
of three virtual candidate
forums hosted by EO Media
Group.
The first forum, on May 1,
featured four of the five Dem-
ocratic candidates for the seat
that will be vacated at the end
of the year by Republican
Congressman Greg Walden.
Those candidates were
Nick Heuertz, a 48-year-old
Central Point resident and
a business consultant; John
Holm, a 51-year-old licensed
Realtor and political strat-
egist from Medford; Alex
Spenser, a 55-year-old writer
and performance coach from
Klamath Falls; and Chris
Vaughn, a 54-year-old Bend
resident and specialty food
sales representative.
A fifth candidate, Jack
Submitted photos
Submitted photos
Clockwise from top left, Nick Heuertz, John Holm, Chris
Vaughn and Alex Spenser, are the Democrats seeking the
nomination to run for Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District.
Top: (l-r) Jason Atkinson, Cliff Bentz, Knute Buehler and Jimmy
Crumpacker Bottom: Travis Fager, Justin Livingston and Jeff
Smith
Howard of La Grande, did
not participate.
On May 2, Republican
candidates were divided up
between two forums. The
first featured Travis Fager,
programmer from Elgin.
The second round of can-
didates interviewed were
Jason Atkinson, 49, a busi-
ness consultant from Central
Point who served in the Ore-
48, a La Grande resident and
manager of a commercial
radio station; Justin Living-
ston, 42, a real estate broker
and Bend City Councilor and
Jeff Smith, 57, a computer
gon Legislature for 14 years;
Cliff Bentz, 68, an Ontario
farmer, attorney and former
state representative; Knute
Buehler, 55, an orthopedic
surgeon who represented
Bend in the state House until
an unsuccessful run for gov-
ernor; and Jimmy Crump-
acker, 41, a commodities
trader from Tumalo.
Four other candidates
declined to participate: David
Campbell, Glenn Carey Jr.,
Kenneth Mendenbach, and
Mark Roberts.
Candidates were each
asked the same set of ques-
tions, which covered top-
ics such as health care, eco-
nomic recovery and climate
change.
Videos for all three of the
forums can be found on the
Hermiston Herald Facebook
page or on the videos section
of
www.hermistonherald.
com. Written articles about
the forums can be found in
the May 2 and May 5 edi-
tions of the East Oregonian.
Biographical information
about the candidates was
compiled by Kyle Spurr of
the Bend Bulletin.