Oregonians want honest elected officials. And yet, politics has become so corrupt that many voters ignore those officials as much as possible, and many of them don’t even vote. One lesson from the Senate District 2 primary election is that Republican campaign consultants and candidates should run strictly honest campaigns. It actually isn’t hard – just try to tell the …
When Christine Goodwin was appointed to complete the term of the late state Rep. Gary Leif, who died in July of 2021, she had no intention of running for a full term. The News-Review reported, “[Goodwin] said she doesn’t want to run for the office in 2022 because moving to Salem is not something she and her husband want to …
Time flies in the political world. We no sooner have midterm elections when suddenly it’s time to begin the quadrennial presidential election cycle. Of course, President Joe Biden has announced he is running for another term in 2024. That’s no surprise. What about on the Republican side? Who should challenge Biden? Normally, this means keeping track of presidential hopefuls, listening …
On May 30, Attorney John DiLorenzo Jr. of the Davis Wright Tremaine law firm sent a letter to Acting Secretary of State Cheryl Myers to seek a ruling on when Measure 113 takes effect. He represents State Sen. Tim Knopp, State Sen. Brian Boquist and the Oregon’s 13 Constitutional Defense Fund. (Oregon’s 13 is a reference to the senators who’ve …
The May 16 Special Election resulted in significant changes to our local school boards. Here are the official election results for races in Josephine County. Grants Pass School District Voters elected four new school board members to Grants Pass School District 7. Position 1: Challenger Dustin Smith defeated incumbent Scott Nelson. Dustin Smith: 4,102 (54.57%) Scott Nelson 3,383 (45%) Position …
By Richard Emmons I met with Don Scott on Sept. 16. He wanted to show me one of his $350 pine caskets, which he sells to individuals and local funeral homes. You can see his ad on page 20. I told him that folks should buy a casket now and use it to store firewood or grandkids’ toys until needed …
Back in August, Republicans were excited to learn Christian Drazan would attend the Josephine County Fair for a meet and greet. One Republican leader suggested we form a circle around Christine to protect her from overzealous Republicans. That was a needless worry. Christine heard strong, informed and sometimes heated concerns about the SB 762 Wildfire Risk Map and other hot …
The Board of County Commissioners faces challenges on funding the Sheriff’s Office, preventing wildfires, expanding housing opportunities in the county and running county operations at a time of leaner resources. So, what do we need in our new commissioner? An effective county commissioner requires a combination of leadership and management skills and experience. This is very different from school boards …
By Richard Emmons The May 17 election resulted in a November run-off for county commissioner between John West and Brian DeLaGrange, voters repealing the county code enforcement ordinance and voters saying “No” to a ballot question about moving Josephine County to the state of Idaho. Josephine County Counsel Wally Hicks ran unopposed and was reelected with 16,458 votes. Statewide voter …