Community Voices Weekly: Endorsement scoreboard

Happy Sunday, Lookout Eugene-Springfield,

It’s an honor to publish the wide-ranging opinions of Lane County residents in our Community Voices section day after day.

It’s also fun to turn it into a game, when possible. And letters supporting candidates is one of those times. With the May 19 primary election about seven weeks away, I’m keeping a tally. Here’s where things stand right now:

Lane County Commissioner

District 1, West Lane

Ryan Ceniga – 1, thanks to Junction City letter writer Terri Moffett who, in a letter published Wednesday, praised Ceniga as “an innovative leader who has used tax dollars wisely to improve the county.“

Thomas Hiura – 0

District 2, Springfield

David Loveall – 1

Sean VanGordon – 1 (scheduled to publish Tuesday)

William Monsoor – 0

District 5, East Lane

Heather Buch – 5, including a letter published Thursday from owners of two Cottage Grove businesses, who said Buch “has already proven that she can put many ideas into action for east Lane County residents.“

Jake Pelroy – 3

Bob Zybach – 0

Eugene City Council

… Crickets, despite all four races being contested.

Are you a Eugene resident in Wards 3-6? (If you’re not sure, check out this page to find your ward.) If so, learn about the candidates running to represent you in our 2026 Lane County election guide, then drop me a line and let our readers know who has your support and why. Write to lte@lookoutlocal.com

The David Loveall non-endorsement

I suppose I could have given David Loveall, the incumbent Springfield Commissioner, an adjusted endorsement score of -4.

That’s because we’ve published five letters to the editor this year criticizing him on topics like opening a county meeting with an evangelical prayer, his stormy relationship with the county administrator and the investigation that determined he violated Lane County’s retaliation policies.

Eugene letter writer Karen Myers weighed in on Friday, arguing the March 19 lawsuit Loveall filed against the county follows a very Trumpian playbook.

Yet despite all the heat Loveall has gotten – including from me – I expect his reelection fight against Springfield Mayor Sean VanGordon to be very close.

Why?

Because in 2022, Loveall unseated Springfield Commissioner Joe Berney by a mere 98 votes out of nearly 15,000 cast.

In 2018, Berney defeated Sid Leiken by a few hundred votes out of 13,000.

And for what it’s worth (maybe nothing, maybe a lot), Loveall’s also got a substantial campaign cash advantage over VanGordon, according to state records. He’s received about $66,000 in cash contributions this year and has nearly all of it available to spend between now and election day.

VanGordon has raised about $33,000 and has $15,000 on hand.

The emergency department entrance of PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. Credit: Ashli Blow / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Thoughts from an ER nurse

Letter writers have not been shy in airing near-unanimous disapproval of PeaceHealth’s planned emergency department staffing change.

The latest comes from someone with more knowledge than most about life in an ER: a former PeaceHealth RiverBend emergency department nurse.

Helana Kadyszewski, who was a staff nurse there from 2019 to 2024, wrote a Friday guest column lamenting what she calls “surrender, resignation and an absolute disinterest in the health of our community.“

But remember when I said near-unanimous disapproval? Eugene letter-writer Richard Roseta argued on Tuesday that “there will be no difference in care” between Eugene Emergency Physicians and ApolloMD.

What do you think? Send me a letter and weigh in: lte@lookoutlocal.com

Predicting trouble

I’m a big fan of March Madness, the big men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments that run from mid-March through early April. Big enough that I look forward to paying $20 each year for a pair of brackets in an old friend’s extremely large tournament pool.

I’m not alone. Americans were projected to wager more than $3.3 billion on the tournaments this year, up about 50% from three years ago. A big reason appears to be Kalshi, an app that bills itself not as a gambling website, but as a “regulated exchange and prediction market” that lets users place real-time bets on anything from the outcome of a sporting event to the likelihood of a war.

Sounds like… a terrible idea. And it’s why I found this a thought-provoking read from the Akron Beacon Journal Editorial Board: Kalshi says it’s not a gambling platform. That’s a problem.

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