SD-17: Harker, Steiner Hayward, move forward

Carla Axtman

With Oregon State Senator Suzanne Bonamici stepping down from her seat as the Democratic nominee for US Congress, Democrats in the Senate district were tasked with choosing nominees to replace her. Tonight in Hillsboro, the delegates to the nominating convention sent three candidates names to the Washington & Multnomah County Commissions. The Commissioners will appoint one of the candidates to the senate seat.

Four candidates presented themselves for consideration: current Oregon House Rep. Chris Harker, Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, Paul Terdal and Wes Soderback. I am Precinct Committee Person (PCP) for this seat and was a delegate to the convention. You can read my live Tweets of the proceedings at @carlaaxt on Twitter.

Delegates at the convention voted at the outset to send 3 candidates forward to the Commissioners, which meant three rounds of voting. The first round required two ballots to complete as none of the four received enough votes to move forward in the first ballot. This may be owing to the fact that while Rep. Harker would generally be considered the go-to guy for the seat, Elizabeth Steiner Hayward worked her ass off to get the appointment. As a PCP for this seat, I received multiple contacts from Hayward. I also spoke with many other PCPs at the convention who had a similar experience. The first vote was fairly close between Harker and Steiner Hayward. The second ballot moved Harker forward as the first nominee.

Steiner Hayward easily won the second round. Paul Terdal won the third.

Washington County Commissioner Greg Malinowski reported that the commissioners would meet jointly on the afternoon of December 21 to decide which of the three will get the appointment.

By Carla Axtman Dec. 11, 2011