POLITICAL CAMPAIGN STATEMENT OF INTENT

Background:
      No final decision had yet been made whether I will file to run for Douglas County Commisioner in 2014. What prompted my decision to contemplate the idea, was that several people have encouraged me to run, and have offered to pay for my filing fee and Voters Pamphlet statement. It takes about $500 to file with the Douglas County Clerk, obtain photographs, and issue a statement in the Voters Pamphlet.
      Physically and mentally, I am prepared for such a challenge. My chemotherapy will end in February, and I won't be able to resume full-time teaching until Fall, 2014. Running for Douglas County Commissioner during the May, 2014 primary would be at a perfect time in my life.
      However, there are financial issues to consider. I will be paying off my medical debts for quite some time, so I wouldn't be able to put any of my own money into running a campaign. I would be entirely dependent on donations...which means I probably wouldn't be able to pay for the thousands of campaign yard signs that some of the more well-greased political candidates can afford. But for me, running for political office has never been about how much money one has to spend. It's been about informing the public of the issues, and hopefully convincing the public that you're (i.e., ME) the right person for the job.
      I'm printing this STATEMENT OF INTENT right now, so that if I do decide to run within the next few months, there won't be any misconceptions about why I'm running at this particular time.

STATEMENT OF INTENT

Monte Muirhead for Douglas County Commissioner
P.O. Box 401
Oakland, Oregon 97462

     I was sitting in a campaign booth at the North Douglas County Fair in Drain one summer, when a longtime political observer of the Douglas County Republican party told me that every election is different. How true that is.
     I have previously run for office in partisan races and non-partisan races with an incumbent. But this election in 2014 will be the FIRST time that I've run in a non-partisan race in an open election, where no incumbent is seeking re-election.
     In the past, it's been difficult for someone to be elected Douglas County Commissioenr without seeking political campaign contributions from PACS and special interest groups. The 2002 election was especially noteworthy. Statewide PACS from outside Douglas County were pumping money into the Douglas County Commissioner's race. It was a foregone conclusion that the Republican candidate who raised the most money (or close to it) would win the May primary, and breeze to victory in a November landslide general election.
     I didn't believe that a candidate for a simple county office should have to spend more than one hundred thousand dollars to win the election. Many Douglas County voters apparently agreed with me. Even though I spent a "paltry" $4,000 during the May primary election, I came in third in a four-way race where all three of my opponents had each spent tens of thousands of dollars more than I did.
     This past decade, Douglas County voters decided to change the way in how their county commisioners become elected. The Douglas County Commissioner's race is now non-partisan, which means the two candidates who receive the most votes during the May primary, regardless of which party they're affiliated with, advance to the November general election. AND, more importantly, ALL of the candidates' names now appear on ALL of the May ballots, not just the ballots of their respective political party.
     I've always felt that I've had strong support from different parties, but most people never had the chance to vote for me, because my name never appeared on more than half of the ballots. That is why I'm deciding to run again. The current commissioner, Joe Laurance, has decided to step down from office, so this will be my first election, where my name will appear on all of the ballots, AND it will be an open playing field without any advantage for an incumbent.
     Will this translate into an election victory for me? That remains to be seen. As my friend at Drain correctly pointed out, "each election is different." That's why it is invigorating for me to run for office in 2014. Abraham Lincoln ran for office and failed several times before he was elected to Congress. I will post my campaign platform on my blog, when/if a decision is made to run for Douglas County Commissioner in 2014.