The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
2008 Election: How the West Was Won
by Bob Goldberg

Election 2008 is mostly over, and the trends on the west coast are clear. Most incumbents won, as usual. Democrats did well in Washington, Oregon and California, as well as nationally. Ballot measure kings EYMAN, SIZEMORE and MANNIX continued their losing streak, not even managing one win in Washington or Oregon. With energy and transportation, voting, and criminal justice issues dominating, Oregon and California both posted 12 ballot measures, continuing the thread of direct democracy on the coast. Big issues continued to be settled with ballot measures, as GAY MARRIAGE was nixed in California, the TOP TWO PRIMARY lost in Oregon, and DOCTOR-ASSISTED SUICIDE was given the nod in Washington.

The major trend locally is the continuation of unopposed elections. In Clatsop County, only in Astoria and Cannon Beach were challengers found to run for city council positions. Ballot measures for fire and police funding fared poorly. Education was a winner, as both Clatsop Community College and Portland Community College BOND MEASURES PASSED, though Columbia County voted against PCC upgrades.

Human Dignity Groups in Columbia County fought hard to defeat the two anti-immigration measures, a first of its ilk to the Northwest. Measure 5-190 passed 57% to 43%. It requires the county to prohibit employment of unauthorized aliens, and with that can impose fines of up to ten thousand dollars, suspension of business licenses, etc. No telling what this could do to the local economy, in addition to stirring the pot of racial profiling. Measure 5-191 went down though – requiring development/contractor sites to post enormous anti-immigration signs. Barack Obama’s national comprehensive immigration reform plan is much closer to that of Oregon’s grassroots immigrant rights coalition CAUSA, than any President before him.

Only a few weeks after voters in Clatsop County turned down LNG pipelines in parks and natural areas by a 2-1 margin, they came back and seem to have kept one of LNG’s biggest proponents, PATRICIA ROBERTS, as county commissioner, though the race is close and a recount is possible. RUSS WARR, who is “ambivalent” about LNG, is currently leading in his race for Astoria City Council against this author – who is widely known to be anti-LNG – even though the ward voted almost 3-1 against the pipeline referendum. Is it the incumbent effect, or a case of sudden amnesia?

The election of ARLINE LAMEAR to the Astoria City Council, and DIRK ROHNE to the Clatsop County Commission in the May primary, will check the development-friendly tendency in Clatsop County, but solid majorities on the county commission and the councils of all the cities in the county except for Cannon Beach will continue to favor development. That voters didn’t sweep in a more cautious crowd in the wake of their support for OBAMA, MERKELEY and all the other Democrats on the state level is interesting.

In Tillamook County, LISA PHIPPS, a progressive, lost to conservative incumbent CHARLES HURLIMAN in a runoff. Tillamook County voters favored Gordon Smith, a Republican, for Senator, but Kurt Schrader, a Democrat, for Representative. Wheeler bucked the trend in rejecting annexation of a development on its fringes. All other annexations on the ballot locally passed by wide margins.

It’s hard to discern whether the national trend of leaning to the left is happening in our local area. With the economic downturn starting to hit the coast, it will be interesting to see how issues of growth, development, affordable housing, government services and jobs play out, with essentially the same players on the government scene.

Ballot Measures
As usual, California had some groundbreaking ballot measures for voters to decide. With the nation’s most stringent law limiting CO2 emissions, Californians voted in the first high-speed (over 200 mph) RAIL SYSTEM in the country. The system will connect San Francisco to Los Angeles, shunting through the Central Valley on the way, with less CO2 emissions than either a plane or a car. A government agency is already set up to administer the system, and funding will now be in place to complete the planning stages and start construction. Is that cool or what? (For more information, see the California High-Speed Rail Authority web site.) GOOD

Two other California ballot measures in the alternative energy and transportation area failed. A measure that would have required utilities to generate 20% of their power from renewable energy by 2010, 40% by 2020, and 50% by 2025, was beaten by an almost 2-1 margin. It would have been the highest renewable energy targets in the country if passed. An odd alliance of big electric utility companies and environmental groups fought against this measure, saying it was so badly written that it would actually slow the development of renewable power, not speed it. And a measure that would have provided rebates for alternative fuel vehicles, and research and development and college training in renewable energy, also failed convincingly. Critics blasted it as a money grab by Texas oil tycoon T. BOONE PICKENS, whose company Clean Energy Fuels sells natural gas for use in vehicles. The company provided almost all of the measure’s $22.5 million campaign fund. As usual, politics trumped good policy. Maybe the Obama administration will take up the slack, and get us going in renewable energy. BAD

California voters also passed two victims’ rights measures, one for humans, and one for FARM ANIMALS – both by large margins. Rather than the usual Eyman/Sizemore/Mannix measures, it would be nice to see measures like "Standards for Confining Farm Animals" on our ballots here in Oregon. GOOD

In Washington, voters passed the nation’s second physician-assisted suicide law, following Oregon’s lead. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act was first passed by Oregon voters in 1994. The law was delayed by a legal injunction, but after multiple legal proceedings, including a petition that was denied by the United States Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction in 1997. Measure 51, which sought to overturn the law, lost convincingly later that year. No challenges since, and the issue hasn’t really been big in the last few years. Will there be challenges to the new Washington law? Time will tell. GOOD

Two other big social issues had associated ballot measures, again in California. Voters there rejected a measure that would have required parental notification before a minor’s pregnancy was terminated (i.e. abortion). Ever since ROE VS. WADE, right-to-life groups have sought to water down the law by placing various barriers in the way of abortions. That this attempt failed is significant. GOOD

In perhaps the biggest ballot measure story of the 2008 election, California joined 27 other states already banning gay marriages in the state constitution when voters narrowly approved PROPOSITION 8. Back in May of 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled, 4-3, that the state constitution guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marry. Same-sex couples from all over the country flocked to San Francisco to get married. As in 2004, after Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriages, and several states then banned gay marriages in voter-approved ballot measures in the general election, in 2008 several more states reacted to California’s Supreme Court decision to allow gay marriage, including, most notably, California. The battle goes on. UGLY

Local Races of Note

Clatsop County Commission, District 2
Jim Scheller, a retired nurse anesthetist, beat the incumbent, Patricia Roberts, in the May primary, but newcomer Kelly Stearns prevented Scheller from receiving a majority, forcing a runoff. Stearns ran as a progressive and environmentalist, so Scheller, a recovering progressive, was assumed to get her votes in November. Stearns never endorsed Scheller, but he was purported to be winning the whole way to the general election, though no official polls were taken. In the last days of the campaign, it was revealed that Roberts got most of her campaign money from development interests, whereas Scheller was supported mostly by Democratic Party and anti-LNG activists. In a turnaround that is still being analyzed (see above), Scheller is currently losing by 15 votes.

Like the races featured below, this race featured a clear choice between a progressive and a conservative candidate. Scheller ran a campaign focusing on integrity and ability to get the job done, and alluding to controversial decisions the county commission, lately headed by Roberts, has made. Roberts, on the other hand, ran on her record as the incumbent. As some of the races below also show, the results would seem to indicate a split right down the middle in this district. Given that the voters in this district (south Warrenton, Gearhart, and north Seaside) have been fairly conservative in the past, it might be said that the tide is turning a little to the left in this part of Clatsop County, but not quite enough to get a progressive candidate elected. Yet. BAD

City of Astoria Councilor, Ward 1
ARLINE LAMEAR, a retired librarian, trounced Bruce Conner, a travel agency owner and Astoria cruise ship coordinator, in this open-seat race for Joyce Compere’s seat, which she vacated earlier this year after retiring to warmer climes. Conner, had the support of business, sported huge signs along the main roads in the ward, and an over-the-top American flag tie in his ads and campaign appearances. LaMear leads the AAUW group that has put on the candidate and issue forums in Astoria, and like Conner, serves on the Astoria Planning Commission.

Why did LaMear buck the trend in local elections and handily win in this ward? Is this ward considerably more liberal than other areas of Clatsop County? Maybe it’s the female factor? LaMear says she tried to talk to every constituent in the ward. Did that do it? Or was it just that this race didn’t feature an incumbent, and without that advantage, on even ground, the more progressive candidate won? GOOD

City of Astoria Councilor, Ward 4
This race pitted the incumbent, Russ Warr, owner of Astoria Granite Works, against Bob Goldberg, HIPFiSH feature writer (including this one!) and substitute teacher in the Astoria School District. Warr won the previous election in a three-way race.

This contest was more low-key than the other races mentioned here, but here again the voters had a clear voice between a progressive and a conservative candidate. As in the Scheller/Roberts race for county commissioner, it appears that this ward is split down the middle, and could signal a shift to the left. "INTERESTING CHOICE"

City of Cannon Beach Mayor
Mike Morgan, long-time consultant and planner, beat Bill Bennett, perceived to be the more development friendly candidate. Urbanization is a concern in Cannon Beach more than in the rest of the county. The city council has reflected this concern. This was an open seat, vacated by architect Jay Raskin, who took over the mayor’s job when long-time mayor John Williams died earlier this year. GOOD

Tillamook County Commissioner, Position No. 1
Lisa Phipps, the mayor of Rockaway Beach and a planner at the county, lost a close race to Charles Hurliman, the incumbent, from a pioneer Tillamook County family. Another clear choice of progressive vs. conservative, this race was a runoff after Hurliman and Phipps placed 1st and 2nd, respectively, in the May primary.

The features of the race were very similar to those in the Clatsop County commissioner race, and also to the Astoria City Council, Ward 4 race. In all three contests, the challengers were progressives, running against conservative incumbents, who were well established in their communities. The incumbents ran on their record, and had establishment backing, and the challengers received widespread support, and were even a little surprised to be on the losing side (as of this writing).

According to Phipps, Tillamook County is changing. She plans on staying active in local politics, though her term as Rockaway mayor expires next month. BAD

The results in Clatsop County also seem to harbor a change in the political winds to the left, but perhaps not enough to bring more than one new progressive face to local government.

So, the West was won by Democrats, incumbents and community colleges in this election. But it wasn’t easy. And it’s lookin’ like we’re in for a rough ride in the next four years, so sit tight, hang on, and ride it out with a smile!