Umatilla County commissioner candidate Susan Bower of Pendleton addresses the crowd Tuesday Nov. 8, 2022, thanking them for their support on election night at the Great Pacific Wine & Coffee Co., Pendleton.

PENDLETON — Apparent Umatilla County Commissioner-elect Cindy Timmons of Milton-Freewater said Wednesday, Nov. 9, she wants to hit the ground running. And incumbent Commissioner John Shafer of Pendleton secured a runaway win.

Timmons in unofficial election results as of Nov. 9 has 55.6% of the vote for the commissioner Position 1 versus Susan Bower of Pendleton with 44%, according to the Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division.

“I spent Wednesday morning at the courthouse being introduced to folks,” Timmons said. “Next week I’m going to Salem to meet with the Association of Oregon Counties.”

An important issue on which Timmons said she hoped to focus during her term is equal representation for all parts of the county. Of comparable significance to her was providing equal services to elders, veterans and public safety.

“I campaigned on the platform that everybody deserves a voice,” she said. “My talking point was fairness. People in the Hermiston area told me that resonated, but in Pendleton also. Overall, the county philosophy or thought is for fair representation. The county is so big, 3,200 square miles, that what we’ve got going on in the east end is totally different from Pilot Rock or Ukiah, but all equally important.”

Bower remained hopeful Nov. 9 but also reflecting on the campaign and looking ahead.

“I’m most hopeful that ballots will roll in and things turn around in a rainbow switch,” she said, “but historically gaps this big aren’t filled. My dedication to the community with compassion and commitment hasn’t changed.”

Either way, the best is yet to come, Bower said.

“Should the trend continue, I couldn’t be more proud of the campaign,” she said. “I met people and made friends in every corner of the county, some of which I didn’t even know about before. Not one bit of my experience as a consultant and in community development was not used to better the campaign. Whether as a commissioner or not, we’re here to stay. I’ll find ways to share my time and talent with the community.”

Bower said she expects to put to good use all that she learned in the campaign.

“It was a great experience,” she said.

After 20 years in the county and raising her family here, she intends to find new ways to serve. As of Dec. 31, her colleague Nick Nash is to own her consulting company Eastern Oregon Business Source.

“It’s early,” Bower said at the time. “I know it’s going to be close because we’re both great candidates and we both ran really good campaigns, but it’s early.”

Looking back on the campaign, Bower said, “It’s been a year-and-a-half in the making, it’s been a great campaign. I could not be more proud of the campaign, we didn’t leave any stones unturned. I also think we did a really good job of even distribution across communities. I’m very proud of how professional and classy this campaign was, all the candidates did a great job, but I went into this with the mindset of ‘I want to campaign the way I’ll be a commissioner.’”

Bower and Timmons raised and spent similar amounts in their campaigns.

Bower raised almost $28,000, with $15,291 coming in cash donations and nearly $13,500 coming from in-kind, according to OreStar, the Oregon secretary of state’s website for campaign finance activity. Her campaign spent $24,577.91.

OreStar shows Timmons raised just more than $30,000, with a little more than $10,000 in cash and the rest in-kind, and spent $29,766.13.

Bower said one of her largest challenges was negotiating a field of six candidates in the primaries.

“A couple of them came in later in the game, that was a lot to manage,” she said. “It takes a lot of help, and I underestimated thinking that I could do everything, but it turns out I had a team of 30 people working really hard across the county under a steering committee of 12.”

Turning to a gathering of her supporters at the Great Pacific in Pendleton on election night she added, “I’m excited about what’s next.”

Kim Lindell, Umatilla County elections manager, said Timmons had a solid lead, 11,812 votes to Bower’s 9,340, but there were about 2,000 ballots to count and more coming in the mail during the next week.

Shafer wins reelection

Unofficial state election results as of Nov. 9 have Shafer winning reelection in the race for Position 2 on the Umatilla County board with 62.8% of the vote. Challenger HollyJo Beers, also of Pendleton, received 36.9%.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Shafer said during election night as early results came out. “I’m fairly confident, but until the final numbers are in, you never know.”

Beers hosted an election watch party in the meeting room of Athena City Hall. Athena City Council Position 1 candidates Anthony Cooksley and Justin Mitchell attended the event along with Athena resident Jesse Bonifer, the Libertarian Party nominee for Oregon House District 58.

“Should I not be elected,” Beers said earlier that evening, “I might pursue higher office. I’m into the running thing. It’s exciting. I’ve traveled the state for 10 years, getting my message out. We need change, for the betterment of the people themselves, not public officials. I know people in high and low places. I have a lot of backers around the state.”

Beers’ low-budget campaign spent less than the $3,500 minimum required for reporting to the Secretary of State. She reused yard signs from her prior commissioner’s race, bought new ones to exactly the same design and paid $900 for radio ads.

Shafer spent a little more than $5,700 on his campaign, according to OreStar, while raising more than $7,800.