Political Desk

Weidner

I’m posting this at 11:27 p.m., and the latest numbers are available on the clerk’s web site. These are unofficial, of course, but with the turnout at 45 percent, it looks like this is it. I’m having a heck of a time trying to figure out how the caption tool works, so to complete the above picture: That’s Jim Weidner with wife Reyna and son Jacob checking out the latest results online Tuesday night.

Republican voters tonight handed political newcomer Jim Weidner a commanding victory in the House District 24 primary ace, as he easily fended off two other challengers and cleared the way for a race in the fall featuring him and Democrat Al Hansen.

Weidner, a Yamhill restaurant owner who was warmly embraced by social conservatives in the county’s Republican Party Central Committee, managed to stay ahead of another newcomer in electoral politics, Ed Glad, and veteran campaigner Jim Bunn, who trailed a distant third in unofficial returns.

With nearly 22,000 ballots counted — that’s 45.7 percent turnout — Weidner has about 55 percent, Ed Glad has 24 percent, and Jim Bunn is at 20 percent.

A quick look at the other local races:

Yamhill County Commissioners: My earlier prognostication of a run-off between incumbent Leslie Lewis and challenger Kris Bledsoe was correct. Lewis has 39 percent to Bledsoe’s 31 percent. Donna Nelson — whose House seat Weidner and Hansen want — is third with about 23 percent, and Dayton farmer Curt Johnston is at less than 7 percent.

For Bledsoe’s camp, second-place amounts to the victory they were looking for in Tuesday’s primary election. Supporters had resigned themselves to the likelihood of a first-place finish by Lewis that fell short of an outright victory. So they had their hopes set on the second-place slot, enabling Bledsoe to take another run at Lewis in the fall. Looks like they’ll get it.

County Assessor: A huge landslide for Scott Maytubby, beating David Devine 63 to 36 percent. Scott told me he did quite a bit of door-to-door, which I’ve always believed can pay huge dividends when the votes are counted. So that will make for some interesting dynamics in that office: David Lawson, the current assessor, asked Devine to run after Maytubby filed. Well, I should clarify: I don’t know exactly when Lawson approached Devine, but he did encourage him to run, and Devine filed after Maytubby did. And Lawson’s predecessor, Linda Stephenson, endorsed Maytubby. To be honest, I don’t know what that was all about, although frankly, I have to wonder how many people care. Scott told me a common question he got on the doorstep was: What does the assessor do?

Kent Van Cleave celebrates with wife Tuesday night

County Clerk: Kent Van Cleave is in the lead, but he doesn’t have enough to break 50 percent, so it’s him and Rebekah Stern Doll with 36 and 33 percent respectively. Jeff Doty’s at 17 percent, and McMinnville’s Bryan Owen is less than 13 percent. And no, Kent did not count his own votes. I don’t think he counted any ballots, actually, as he was working upstairs tonight, on a different floor from where the ballot counting takes place. That race has already generated some discussion in the comments at the end of this post.

From the Associated Press report tonight on Obama-Clinton:

Only days after 70,000 people gathered on Portland’s waterfront to roar their approval for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, the state’s voters on Tuesday handed him a resounding victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton in the state’s primary election.

And here’s the rest of it.

Elsewhere around Oregon, quickly: Mike Erickson beat perennial contender Kevin Mannix in a race for an open congressional seat in District 5. He’s beating Mannix by a margin of 52.5 percent to 42.7 percent, with half of the total expected vote counted. So he’ll face Democrat Kurt Schrader in the November general.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Jeff Merkley holding a slight but steady lead over Portland lawyer and activist Steve Novick in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, the seat held by Republican Gordon Smith.

Here’s an AP report on the Oregon Attorney General contest.

For those of you accustomed to checking the county’s web site, the “counter” page you’re accustomed to seeing won’t be there this time, as it wasn’t compatible with the new ballot-counting equipment they’re using. Instead, a tally of results is posted as a PDF file.

From earlier Tuesday night: A dispatch from News-Register reporter Kelly Copeland:

The atmosphere is very calm here at the McMinnville Pizza Company as both Obama and Hillary supporters gather to discuss the results. Will Neuhauser, Chair of the Yamhill County Democrats said the results of the presidential primary elections so far are what he has expected, with no suprises. There are Obama and Hillary supporters here, talking amicably and all talking about the possible outcomes if Obama secures the nomination. But, since Hillary took Kentucky, it may be hard to tell. Many supporters here wonder what will happen if Obama does secure the nomination, with most thinking Hillary’s followers will vote for Obama.

“I think the passions will pass and those people who were supportive of Hillary will find those qualities in Obama and not in McCain,” Neuhauser said.

So far, it seems like this could be the case. Many of the conversations I overhear among the group lean toward Obama’s ability to lead, and if he is more than just a motivational speaker, which is something I heard earlier at the Hillary for Oregon office on Third Street Overall I think it will be interesting to see how the rest of the primary fans out. As I spoke with Will earlier, he said some people say they won’t vote for Obama because he is black, others say they won’t vote for Hillary because she is a woman and many others are worried because McCain is so old. But, he agrees, there will always be some reason for people to not to vote for a particular candidate. So, which one will prove to be more indicative? Will it prove that being black, white or old is more detrimental to a campaign? So far tonight it seems that being a woman could be just that. Maybe?

As the night progresses, more and more people are heading down to Third Street to gather and chat.

And, from a visit at Clinton’s downtown Mac headquarters:

One volunteer said she will choose to abstain if Obama wins the nomination, because she doesn’t want to vote for McCain either. But others say they will be behind Obama even if they were Hillary supporters before. One volunteer, Kathy, said she believes Bill’s campaign may have hurt Hillary’s, because she comes with more baggage, due to the mistakes he made in his presidency.