CAMPAIGN - Win From Behind

     I was talking with an acquaintance from Tillamook County this past week, who told me about an interesting election. One candidate was decidedly the front-runner, and during the May primary, received far more votes than any of the other candidates....who all trailed far behind with a small number of votes each.
     However, the front-runner did not receive fifty percent of the votes, so the top two candidates advanced to the November general election. The number two vote-recipient in May ended up winning the November election!
     I witnessed a similar occurrence in Grants Pass during the 2006 election. Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniels was not running for re-election, and Undersheriff Brian Anderson filed for the job. Two other candidates, who had received their law enforcement experience outside of Josephine County, also filed for the position.
     The May primary election was nip-and-tuck all night long. Anderson maintained a steady 49.+ percent of the vote, and everyone thought he would win with a 50.+ percent victory. But he never did. So, because Anderson had finished with a fraction point shy of enough votes to win, the number two candidate, who received about 25 percent of the votes, advanced to the November general election.
     Guess what? The twenty-five percent candidate in May, Gil Gilbertson, turned around and won the November election over Anderson! Gilbertson not only had apparently picked up some of the number three candidate's votes, but also apparently picked up some of the people who had voted for Anderson in May.
     Every election is different. And one never knows what the voters are going to do. I hope, and I am confident, that there will be a run-off for Douglas County Commissioner during the November general election. Douglas County voters deserve a commissioner's race where they can compare and contrast two candidates, instead of being confused over which one of the seven candidates in the May primary best represents them.
     To clarify, I am extremely happy that there are seven candidates in May. It's important for people to run for public office, and it's important for the voters to have choices. But the outcome should not be decided in May. That's why it's called a PRIMARY election. After voters have weeded out some of the candidates, they can make their final decision between two candidates in the November general election.