County ballot features contested races for commissioner, Enterprise mayor
Published 4:30 pm Tuesday, September 3, 2024
- Signs directing voters where to go hang on the door of the Wallowa County Courthouse in Enterprise before the May primary. Similar signs can be expected for the Nov. 5 general election.
ENTERPRISE — A race for an open seat on the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners is the biggest local contested race county voters will decide in the Nov. 5 general election, but voters in Enterprise will have to choose between three candidates running for mayor.
Those are the only two local contested races on the November ballot, according to a list from County Clerk Sandy Lathrop. Voters will not be asked to decide any local ballot measures in November, although the ballot features five statewide measures.
Lisa Collier and Devin Patton are running for the open county commission seat that Todd Nash holds. Nash is stepping down to run for the Oregon Legislature. He won the Republican nomination for the Senate District 29 seat held by the retiring Bill Hansell.
Collier and Patton were the top two vote-getters in a five-candidate field in the May primary.
Patton is an agriculture derivatives broker, risk management and marketing consultant and a custom grazier. Collier is an educator and the mayor of Joseph.
The only other contested race in the county has three people vying for the position of Enterprise mayor. Former Mayor Ashley Sullivan resigned in May and Council President Jeff Yanke has served as mayor pro tem since. Yanke decided to run for reelection to his Councilor No. 5 position instead of seeking the Enterprise mayor post.
Running for mayor are Stirling Webb, Cody Lathrop and Daniel P. Sticka.
Rick Freeman is seeking reelection to the Councilor No. 6 post on the Enterprise council. Jim Dickenson is running for Councilor No. 4, the position held by Brandon Miller, who is not seeking reelection.
In Joseph, with Mayor Collier stepping down to run for the county commission, Councilor Stephen Bartlow is the only candidate who has filed to succeed her. Councilors Mary Smith and John Dundas have filed for reelection to the council and are unopposed. No one has filed for the council position Bartlow will be leaving.
In Wallowa, Mayor Gary Hulse is running for reelection and incumbent Councilors Scott McCrae and Stacey James are unopposed.
In Lostine, Mayor Dusty Tippet is running for reelection and Danny Wallace is running for Council Position No. 4.
Sheriff Ryan Moody is unopposed on the general election ballot.
The November ballot also will feature candidates running unopposed for positions on the Soil and Water Conservation District board of directors. Kevin Melville will run for the at-large position, while incumbent Melvin Stonebrink is running for the Zone 1 position, Dan Warnock for Zone 2, Alan Klages for Zone 3 and Rawley Bigsby for Zone 4.