UMATILLA COUNTY — The top two candidates separated themselves in the commissioner race and three issues are poised to pass on ballot measures with the Umatilla County Elections office reporting 16,194 votes, or about 36% of ballots from eligible voters, have been counted by the end of Tuesday night. 

Commissioner, Position 3

Dan Dorran of Hermiston leads and HollyJo Beers of Milton-Freewater sits in second in a five-candidate primary race to replace outgoing Commissioner Bill Elfering on the county’s three-person board of commissioners.

Regardless of vote totals, the top two candidates will advance to a runoff in the November general election.

Dorran currently leads with 34% of the vote and has over 1,000 more votes than Beers, who is squarely in second with 24%.

Pat Maier of Hermiston slipped down to 13% but remains in third place, though the gap between her and Beers only widened as more results came in throughout the night. 

Jonathan Lopez and Mark Gomolski, both of Hermiston, are in fourth and fifth respectively with both currently receiving 10% of the vote or less.

Measure 30-144: East Umatilla Fire & Rescue District

Three measures needed to move ahead with a proposal to combine emergency response services and taxing districts for the cities of Athena, Helix, Weston and Adams are currently passing with each almost receiving 70% of the vote.

Measure 30-142 to dissolve the current East Umatilla County Fire District is passing with 68% of the vote, while Measure 30-143 to dissolve the current Helix Fire District is passing with 73%.

Measure 30-144, which merges the old districts together into the new East Umatilla Fire & Rescue District, is passing with 72%.

If all three measures pass, the current tax rate for East Umatilla’s fire and ambulance district will remain the same and tax rates will increase for districts in Athena and Helix to match it, raising an estimate of $120,000 in additional funding for the agencies.

Measure 30-140: Echo Fire District Bond

With 359 total votes reported, the measure to impose an estimated tax rate of $0.375 per $1,000 assessed value and raise $62,625 per year for the Echo Fire District is currently passing at 58%.

The funds raised would pay for a 10-year general obligation bond to purchase fire fighting equipment and add a bay to the existing fire station on West Main Street in Echo.

Measure 30-141: Milton-Freewater Public Transportation Tax

The five-year tax option that helps pay for Milton-Freewater’s public transportation system is currently passing at 62%, with 564 people voting yes and 304 people voting no.

The tax is projected to raise $60,000 and will remain at the same rate it has since 1971 of 37 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.