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QuickTake:
Incumbent Heather Buch was trailing in her race against challenger Jake Pelroy. Board Chair Ryan Ceniga had a big lead in his race.
4:50 p.m. Wednesday: Updated with latest vote tallies.
11:58 a.m. Wednesday: Updated with comment from Heather Buch.
10 p.m. Tuesday: Updated with latest vote tallies.
Springfield Mayor Sean VanGordon is leading in the race for the Lane County commissioner representing Springfield District 2, preliminary returns showed Tuesday, May 19.
Lane County Commissioner David Loveall has 41% of the votes counted so far, while VanGordon has 51%, a 10-percentage point lead, according to tallies released shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 20. The updated counts did not significantly change the margin from Tuesday night.
Loveall ran for a second four-year term, facing VanGordon, in the highest-profile of the three races involving a board incumbent. William Monsoor, a retired mental health worker who didn’t do any fundraising, had about 7% of the vote.
Speaking to his supporters, Loveall said the margin is one that he is unlikely to overcome when accounting for ballots that arrive in the mail. In an interview with reporters, he later acknowledged there’s a slim possibility of a runoff election if VanGordon has less than half of the vote.
But Loveall told the group he accepts the immediate outcome and congratulated VanGordon.
“Here’s the good thing: we live in America,” Loveall said. “I spent six years of my life defending the freedom to vote in the U.S. military. The people’s voice is the voice that we want to prevail. We want everyone’s voice to be heard.”
In an interview with Lookout Eugene-Springfield, VanGordon said he appreciates the support of voters.
“I’m just grateful,” VanGordon said. “I’m grateful to the voters who put their trust in me and continue to support me, and I’m grateful for all the volunteers that came out and helped me and the campaign staff that worked so hard.”
The race was among the most closely watched of all the county commissioner seats up for grabs. In March, county commissioners voted 3-1 to censure Loveall, citing the outcome of an outside investigation into his behavior that concluded he retaliated against county employees after they lodged complaints about him.
Loveall has sued the county and three commissioners who voted to censure him, alleging he was unfairly targeted and his constitutional rights violated.
The board’s Springfield district includes the city of Springfield and some outlying areas.
In this race, and the East Lane District three-way race, a candidate needs to get one vote more than 50% of the ballots cast in the race to win. If no candidate has the majority of votes, then the top two vote-getters will advance to the November general election.
East Lane District
Lane County Commissioner Heather Buch is still trailing in preliminary results in her bid for a third term against two challengers for the East Lane District 5 seat.
Buch faces Jake Pelroy, a consultant and former legislative staffer, and Bob Zybach, a researcher and writer and former forestry contractor, in the race.
By 5 p.m. Wednesday, Buch has 46.6% while Pelroy is ahead with 48.6%, according to updated preliminary results released Wednesday. Previously, Pelroy had 49.9% of the votes. Zybach has close to 5%. The could mean Buch and Pelroy face off in the November general election, depending on how the rest of the results shape the outcome.
In a statement issued Wednesday morning, Buch said: “We are patiently waiting for the final outcome of this election and are thankful for the diligent work by the County Clerk’s office. All voters deserve to have their voices heard and we will wait until all results are in before making a full statement. No matter what the results, we will accept the will of the voters.”
The district includes parts of west Eugene and the cities of Cottage Grove, Creswell, Oakridge, Lowell, Westfir, Coburg and unincorporated communities in the McKenzie River valley.
Buch’s time as commissioner has included shepherding the district’s rural McKenzie River valley through unprecedented recoveries after the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire. Communities along the McKenzie River are still rebuilding five years later. Buch also served as the five-member commission’s chair in 2020, when the county responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pelroy is a political consultant and former legislative staffer for former Republican state Sen. Bill Hansell. He ran on a platform that included looking for more ways to better fund public safety. Pelroy also has been a vocal critic of the CleanLane recycling project, criticizing its cost and the county’s approach in planning the project.
Zybach had advocated for forest management practices to bring back more jobs in forestry, with sustainable and increased timber harvesting. That issue, he said, was tied to others like the economy and education.
West Lane District
Incumbent Commissioner Ryan Ceniga is leading in a two-way race for a second four-year term representing West Lane District 1.
Ceniga faced Thomas Hiura, a small-business owner and elected member of the Lane Education Service District board. Ceniga has 61% of the vote while Hiura has 38%, preliminary returns for Wednesday show.
The district covers western Lane County, including Florence, Veneta and Junction City.
