Marion County politics

It's not easy being a conservative in a liberal area, or a liberal in a conservative area, because your elected officials tend to do things you'd rather not have done.  Of course, a lot depends on what's meant by "area." I'm a liberal. I live in Oregon, a blue state. So mostly I'm good with what statewide elected officials (all Democrats) do. Within Oregon, I live in Salem -- that's my address, though I'm not in the city limits -- which leans decidedly leftward. So mostly I'm good with what the Salem City Council does, as the council has a…

I'm healed! Thanks to the current Marion County District Attorney, Paige Clarkson, and her challenger in the May election, Spencer Todd, I've recovered from the (mild) trauma of watching the previous Salem City Club debate via Zoom between the candidates for Salem Mayor, Chris Hoy and Chane Griggs, where Hoy and Griggs agreed on almost everything and were kind and gentle toward each other. Morally uplifting, perhaps, but boring.  In contrast, Clarkson and Todd disagreed on almost everything and were pleasingly snarky toward each other. Partly that was because being attorneys, they're used to arguing with their fellow lawyers. But…

Mark Wigg is a Salem community activist who is running for the Marion County Board of Commissioners seat currently held by Colm Willis. Mark Wigg Since Wigg is unopposed in the Democratic primary, and Willis is unopposed in the Republican primary, they'll face off in the November 2022 general election. I wholeheartedly support Wigg. Currently all three of the Marion County Commissioners are conservative Republicans. Wigg would bring fresh ideas and some political balance to the board. Here's an essay Wigg sent me about the homeless crisis. He's absolutely correct that what's being tried now isn't working very well.  From…

Aside from West Salem, which is in Polk County, everybody else who lives in Salem is in Marion County. Unfortunately, when it comes to electing the county Board of Commissioners, too many Salem voters tend to forget the reality of this map. For a long time -- I'm not sure how many years it has been -- the three members of the Marion County Board of Commissioners have all been Republicans.  Most recently, in November 2020 Republican Danielle Bethell handily beat Democrat Ashley Carson Cottingham 52-44. Yet the voter registration breakdown for Marion County as of September 2020 showed an…