UMATILLA COUNTY — Precinct-level data available a month after Umatilla County residents elected Dan Dorran over HollyJo Beers show Dorran had a stronger showing in cities west of Pendleton, while Beers won some cities on the east side.

The results showed Dorran, of Hermiston, receiving 54.4% of the county’s vote to Milton-Freewater resident Beers’ 42.4%, according to the Oregon Secretary of State elections division.

However, an analysis of the results, from the county’s 46 precincts, which group voters geographically, confirms what was predicted through results in the May primary — the majority of voters in communities east of Pendleton favor Beers, while communities west of the city supported Dorran.

For Dorran, it was a clean sweep on the west side of Pendleton. He received the majority of the vote in Hermiston, Stanfield, Echo and Umatilla with 57% of the western county’s votes to Beers’ 38%. He also beat Beers in Pendleton’s precincts, where he received 62% of the contest total to Beers’ 48%, and in Athena, Umapine and Helix.

Analyzing precincts covering the small communities on the east side of the county, Beers received 52% of the vote to Dorran’s 47%, according to the data.

Beers, a resident of Milton-Freewater, said that her success in eastern Umatilla County can be attributed to her familiarity with those communities, as opposed to places like Hermiston, where residents are more familiar with Dorran.

Beers’ most overwhelming victory came in Milton-Freewater, where she received 52% of the contest total vote to Dorran’s 45%. In Pilot Rock, where she grew up, Beers received roughly 50% of the vote to Dorran’s 47%.

Beers believes that her message failed to reach some voters in western Umatilla County because she wasn’t able to connect to them via canvassing and advertisements. Had her campaign plans not been restricted by the coronavirus pandemic, she said the outcome would have been different.

“If I would have concentrated more in Hermiston, and if I had more money, I would have beat him,” she said.

Beers said her work as leader of the Umatilla County Three Percenters connected well with communities in the eastern portion of the county, where she said her following is the strongest.

The Three Percenters — a far-right group which decries government infringement on Constitutional rights — have been associated nationally with protests against immigration and refugees. They were also supportive of Ammon Bundy and the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Beers said the group’s activity and support in eastern Umatilla County communities helped her garner votes this election season. Lately, she has been encouraged to see the group growing to larger numbers in the western portion of the county.

“I just sent out several applications today, and every day I get new ones,” she said. “People are very interested. We’re branching out more into the Hermiston and Umatilla area.”

Considering this election was her first, Beers said she considers it a great success, even if she lost. She plans to run for elected office again in the future — possibly for commissioner, representative or state senator.

“I think that I am an extremely fair person and that we need people in office who are going to be upfront, truthful, that stand up for the Constitution and the right of the people,” she said.

Dorran did not return calls for comment on the voting results by press time.

County data also showed the overall voter turnout increased from 37% in the May primary to 72% in the November election.

Though the overall turnout percentage is slim compared to other Oregon counties, which saw record turnouts with a White House up for grabs, the 2020 election in Umatilla County saw approximately 5,000 more votes cast than in 2016.”

[This story has been changed to reflect a correction. The story calculated voting data using contest totals, including overvotes and undervotes, rather than calculating for total votes cast. The story has been updated with percentages calculated for total votes cast, to include data from the Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division, and for increased clarity on how the data was calculated.]