Random thoughts and reactions on primary night

Kari Chisholm

I'll leave the news coverage and exhaustive reporting to others, but a few things that struck me from the primary election results. In no particular order:

• There were more write-in votes for the Independent Party nomination race for Governor than either of the two named candidates. Someone had to be running a campaign -- the only questions are: Who? And did he or she get more votes than the top named candidate?

• I'm glad to see GOP primary voters show Matt Wingard the door. But why 30% of Republicans in HD-26 voted for a guy with his history, I don't understand.

• Within minutes of Brad Avakian's win for Secretary of State, the Oregonian issued an editorial attacking him again for being too progressive. That's hilarious. They just don't get it.

• I thought the two most likely candidates to face Senator Ron Wyden were Sam Carpenter, the self-described "Trump-ish" millionaire, and Lane County Commissioner Faye Stewart. Instead, he'll face Mark Callahan -- last remembered as the "blah blah blah" guy.

• Senator Bernie Sanders managed just about 300,000 votes statewide. Senator Wyden had over 430,000 and Congressman Schrader had over 67,000 in the Fifth District. Those totals mean that, despite their Bernie-endorsing opponents, tens of thousands of Bernie voters voted for Sen. Wyden and Rep. Schrader.

• Here's to Clackamas County voters, who have seen the light on County Chair John Ludlow. He placed second in a four-way race, with just 28% of the vote. He faces a tall uphill battle against Jim Bernard, who led with 37% of the vote.

• The city of Damascus, Oregon, voted overwhelmingly to disincorporate -- for the second time. They'll become unincorporated Clackamas County, a curious choice when "local control!" is a rallying cry in so many communities.

There's lots more to unpack in these results. What do you see?

By Kari Chisholm May 18, 2016