QuickTake:

Thomas Hiura has filed for a seat on the Lane County Board of Commissioners, challenging incumbent Ryan Ceniga, who is running for reelection. The latest filing means all three incumbent county commissioners on the May ballot face opponents.

Thomas Hiura, a multimedia engineer and small business owner, is running for the Lane County commission, challenging incumbent Ryan Ceniga in the District 1 race. 

Hiura lives in the unincorporated Santa Clara area, within Eugene’s urban growth area. He was elected in 2025 to the board of the Lane Education Service District, which provides services to school districts such as administrative support, technology and programs for students with special needs. 

Ceniga, who is running for a second term as commissioner, also serves on the Junction City School Board. Ceniga has worked in mechanical and contracting jobs, including at Junction City and the Eugene Water & Electric Board. Ceniga also is serving as the county board’s chair this year. 

District 1 covers western Lane County, including Florence, Veneta and Junction City. Before Hiura’s filing, the race was the last county commissioner seat without an opponent in the election. Commissioners David Loveall and Heather Buch also are running for reelection and face opponents. 

“I want to see accountability and transparency, and I want the Lane County board to serve the whole district, not just one region or narrow subgroup,” Hiura said in an interview with Lookout. 

Hiura said that means ensuring that people in coastal communities like Florence can access county services that include health care, affordable housing and public safety. 

Hiura also noted the recent tumult with the commissioners’ 3-1 vote to censure Loveall after an outside investigation found he retaliated against three county employees. Ceniga was the only commissioner who opposed the censure besides Loveall, who abstained from the vote.

“I thought it was kind of a no-brainer to make amends for the retaliation that county employees faced for exercising their right to file a workplace complaint,” Hiura said. “I thought a statement of unity that they all voted for is one thing, but actual accountability needs to go beyond words.”

Hiura said Ceniga’s opposition to the censure “played a role, but I already knew I was going to run.”

When commissioners this week voted on the motion to censure, Ceniga said he had concerns about how the process unfolded.

Ceniga said he looks forward to the race and discussing issues and met Hiura Tuesday, but doesn’t know him. He faced three opponents in his last commission race four years ago.

Candidates will face off first in the May 19 primaries. The winner could be decided then if a candidate gets at least one more vote than 50% of the votes cast. Even then, the winner would appear on the November ballot and could technically still face a write-in candidate.

If no candidate gets a majority of the votes, then the top two vote-getters face off in the November election.

County commissioners are nonpartisan elected officials. They are paid an annual salary of $114,026.

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Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.