Happy Sunday, Lookout Eugene-Springfield,

This Community Voices Weekly newsletter is supposed to be a roundup of the various topics raised by community members in letters to the editor and guest columns over the past week.

But when I publish 38 op-eds in a week, and 36 of them are about Tuesday’s primary election, well, my options are limited.

So join me one more time for a roundup of letter writers’ candidate and measure endorsements. And if you’ve got election endorsement fatigue, fear not. I’m already scheduling op-eds for this week on topics like PERS, teaching about race in schools, the Lane County Farmer’s Market, water quality testing and more.

(Final!) endorsement scoreboard

This is it. The ballots are in, and we have our final primary election endorsement letter count. We published a total of 113 candidate and measure endorsements going back to late January.

How many of the races will actually match our endorsement tallies? We’ll find out in a few days.

Lane County Commissioner

District 1, West Lane

Thomas Hiura — 4
Ryan Ceniga — 2

District 2, Springfield

Sean VanGordon — 14
David Loveall — 5

District 5, East Lane

Heather Buch — 10
Jake Pelroy — 3

Lane County Circuit Court

Judge, Position 6

Amit Kapoor — 6

Katina Saint Marie — 1

Eugene City Council

Ward 3

John Barofsky — 14
Jennifer Smith — 12

Ward 5

Athena Aguiar — 5
Jasmine Hatmaker – 2
Mike Clark – 2

Ward 6

Greg Evans — 2

Eugene Water & Electric Board

At-large commissioner

Alexi Miller — 2

Eric Dziura — 1

Oregon State Legislature

House District 7

Ky Fireside — 3

Kori Rodley — 1

Ballot Measures

Lane County Watersheds Bill of Rights

Support — 8
Oppose — 4

Eugene Public Library levy

Support — 9
Oppose — 0

Lane Fire Authority levy

Support — 2
Oppose — 0

Willamalane Park and Recreation District levy

Support — 1
Oppose — 0

Lackluster turnout?

Oregonians aren’t alone in holding primary elections on May 19. We’ll be joined on Tuesday by Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

With the primaries a few days away, voter response so far has been… uninspiring. Oregon’s turnout rate was 19.2% as of Friday afternoon. But that was ahead of the only other state with a Tuesday primary to publicly release early voter data. Georgia reported a 13.9% turnout rate as of Friday.

And if recent history is any indication, Oregon may lead the pack come election night. These were the final turnout rates of each state voting Tuesday during the last non-presidential primary election, in 2022:

Oregon – 38%

Pennsylvania – 35%

Idaho – 32%

Georgia – 25%

Alabama – 23%

Kentucky – 20%

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OTHER Letters TO THE EDITOR

Investigation and censure of David Loveall was about facts, not witch hunts | Letter to the editor

Why are people who don’t live in Springfield deciding its financial future? | Letter to the editor

Lookout’s ‘no’ recommendation on Lane Fire Authority levy omitted crucial information | Letter to the editor

Tina Kotek should reverse her shortsighted order on school furlough days | Letter to the editor

An endorsement from the Democratic Party of Lane County doesn’t mean much | Letter to the editor

To support the Eugene library is to support a legacy of learning | Letter to the editor

Corporations always put profits over people. Watersheds Bill of Rights could finally change that. | Letter to the editor

Oregon’s gas tax ballot measure would enrich special interests at our expense | Letter to the editor

We all value our environment, but the Watersheds Bill of Rights could slow needed housing development | Letter to the editor

Kori Rodley is the right candidate at the right time for Oregon House District 7 | Letter to the editor

Businesspeople aren’t inherently bad politicians, but our system has enough corporate influence | Letter to the editor

Send Ky Fireside to Salem to fight for everyday people | Letter to the editor

I’ve worked closely with John Barofsky on the EWEB board. He’ll make a great city councilor. | Letter to the editor

Eugene truly became home when I discovered the public library. Now it needs our help. | Letter to the editor

I’m excited about Jennifer Smith’s pro-labor, pro-environment platform | Letter to the editor

John Barofsky’s knowledge of Eugene’s budget has few peers | Letter to the editor

Support Oregon lawmakers who helped UO faculty fight for better conditions | Letter to the editor

Eugene needs young progressive candidates like Athena Aguiar to lead us | Letter to the editor

Jennifer Smith has the guts to stand up to powerful institutions | Letter to the editor

John Barofsky will ask the tough questions about Eugene’s budget | Letter to the editor

This week’s guest opinions

Follow the money: The real story behind opposition to the Watersheds Bill of Rights

I’d love to support the Lane County Watersheds Bill of Rights. Here are some reasons I can’t.

Here’s what Lookout missed when declining to endorse Watersheds Bill of Rights

Send us your Letter to the Editor — lte@lookoutlocal.com

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For more than a decade, Elon Glucklich covered business, government and health care for several dailies and online news organizations across Oregon. His reporting and commentary has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.