Background: Originally published May 3, 2006. Douglas County commissioner elections have often been high-stake campaigns where some candidates will spend six figures in order to win an election. This column compares the amount of money spent in one year's election in Douglas County and neighboring Josephine County.
What's the definition of special interests? During the election season, it's what a candidate calls the people who are supporting his/her opponent. But they never refer to their own multi-thousand dollar donors as special interests.
It's interesting to compare campaign spending for county commissioner races in adjacent counties. Both Douglas and Josephine Counties have six candidates running for one open seat.
Douglas County has three Republican and three Democrat candidates, while Josephine County has six non-partisan candidates who all compete for the same votes in the May primary election.
Taking a look at the campaign spending records for the first reporting period, the largest recipient in Douglas County is Dan Hern, who raised more than $91,000 in campaign donations, including $72,815 in cash contributions.
The largest recipient among the Josephine County commissioner candidates is Dave Toler, who raised $10,800.
The biggest contributors to Hern's campaign include four local lumber companies; each donated $6,000. In addition, eighteen other donors have each contributed $1,000 or more to Hern's campaign war chest.
In Josephine County, the two biggest contributors to Toler's campaign (besides himself) donated $250 and $185.
In Douglas County, people are raising their eyebrows because Dan Hern brought in more than five times the money as incumbent Dan Van Slyke, who raised just over $16,000 during the first reporting period.
But the situation is similar in Josephine County. Dave Toler has raised more than twice the amount of the second-highest recipient, Dave Daniel. And, Toler has raised four times the amount than the incumbent, Josephine County Commissioner Jim Riddle.
Even though Toler has raised more than twice the money as Daniel, Daniel did receive two donations of $1,000 each. Put simply, Daniel (the current Josephine County sheriff) has bigger contributions, but Toler (former Three Rivers school district board chairman) is raising more money overall.
In Douglas County, one Republican (Ohlsen) and two Democrats (DeVaughn and McDermott) pledge to spend less than $2,000 in their May primary campaign races. Similarly, in Josephine County, two of the six non-partisan candidates pledged to keep the $2,000 spending limit.
Douglas County used to be like Josephine County. Up through the 2000 county commissioner races in Douglas County, spending was tempered by local contributors who donated cash in the double and triple digits.
Beginning in the 2002 Douglas County commissioner's race, spending suddenly soared into the tens of thousands of dollars, once special interest groups and statewide political action committees began contributing to local candidates.
Also new to the scene in Douglas County is contracting the services of polling agencies based outside of Douglas County. Beginning in the 2002 race, candidates who had tens of thousands of dollars to spend would hire pollsters before the May primary, to gauge their strongholds and adjust their campaign strategies accordingly.
Much of the money to fund high-stakes campaigns comes from special interest groups or statewide political action committees (PACS) that are based outside of Douglas County. While PAC-funded campaigns may be relatively new in the Douglas County commissioner's race, statewide races have been PAC-funded for a long time.
I know from first-hand experience that PACS will not always support a candidate who best represents their beliefs, but PACS will instead support the candidate who has the best chance of winning a race. The Oregon voters campaign pamphlet reveals some interesting endorsements this year.
Taking a look at the Republican gubernatorial candidates this year, Kevin Mannix is the only candidate endorsed by Oregon Right-To-Life. I personally have interviewed all six of the leading gubernatorial candidates this year, and I know that Republican Jason Atkinson leans more to the right than Mannix does. But for whatever reason, Oregon Right-To-Life is encouraging its following to instead cast their votes for Mannix.
On the other side of the fence, the abortion rights league NARAL is endorsing Ted Kulkongoski among the Democrat candidates, even though Kulongoski doesn't mention one word about being pro-choice in the voters pamphlet. For whatever reason, NARAL doesn't endorse Peter Sorenson, one of the most passionate pro-choice candidates around, who states that he is pro-choice, pro-civil rights in the voters pamphlet.
Statewide PACS often treat local races in the same fashion. In one past race for Douglas County commissioner, only one candidate had previously attended local right-to-life meetings and wasn't embarrassed to stand in life chains along Garden Valley Boulevard. But when it came time for Oregon Right-To-Life to endorse a Douglas County commissioner candidate, the statewide special interest group endorsed a differed candidate who, at the time of the endorsement, had never publicly spoken his views on abortion at a campaign forum!
While some people may be scratching their heads at such inconsistencies, there's a simple reason for such actions. PACS traditionally endorse the incumbent candidate in a partisan primary election. Other times, PACS will endorse a candidate who has the most money, not the candidate who best represents their ideals.
Some voters base their decisions upon whom to vote for, based on whether a candidate is supported by a specific PAC. Other voters, like myself, view such endorsements with a grain of salt....and realize a superficial endorsement may not always reveal the complete picture.
This year in 2006, add to the mix a group of disenfranchised Douglas County residents who are attempting to make the Douglas County commissioner's race a non-partisan office. Because Douglas County commissioners refused to put the measure on the ballot, the residents are scheduled to begin an initiative petition drive some time this month to try and get the measure on the November ballot themselves.
It promises to be an interesting election year in Douglas County and in statewide races, long after the May primary results are known.
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