A lawyer appointed by the governor to a Lincoln County judgeship won election to a six-year term on the bench Tuesday, narrowly beating a courthouse challenger for the position.
With 99 percent of ballots counted, Circuit Judge Marcia Buckley beat pro-tem judge Amanda Benjamin by 143 votes — 12,781 to 12,638, according to the Lincoln County elections department.
That slim margin is not enough to trigger a recount, said County Clerk Dana Jenkins. Only a margin of 51 votes or less would do that.
Jenkins said Wednesday that his office has 14 days — until 5 p.m. Nov. 17 — to count the few remaining ballots, most of which involve signature issues or were mailed from other counties.
Buckley was appointed by Gov. Kate Brown to the third judgeship in Lincoln County in January. Benjamin, who is working in Lincoln County as a pro-tem judge, was one of three lawyers passed over for the appointment.
It was an acrimonious, visible and expensive campaign for a six-year term that pays $147,000 a year.
In the only other countywide race, Lincoln County Commissioner Claire Hall comfortably won her fifth, four-year term over Joe Hitselberger, a Seal Rock rancher and brewer 14,474 to 11,605.
Hall was forced into a runoff after not getting more than 50 percent of the vote during a five-way race in the primary election in May. Hitselberger, making his second run at the office, had finished a distant second.
Buckley, a Newport lawyer and former deputy district attorney, was appointed to the bench in January by the governor after Paulette Sanders officially retired after a long illness
Benjamin is on her second, one-year Oregon Judicial Department contract as a Lincoln County temporary judge. She was among three lawyers passed over for the governor’s appointment.
The race was unusual for judges because of its visibility in local advertising and social media. It was also unusual because the county’s two other judges – Presiding Judge Thomas Branford and Judge Sheryl Bachart publicly supported Benjamin in the campaign – which is not prohibited in Oregon’s judicial code of conduct. They also contributed money to her campaign.
Buckley’s supporters accused Branford of trying to “stack” the court with his preferred candidates prior to 2021, when he will reach the state’s mandatory judicial retirement age of 75.
As of a reporting date of Oct. 22, Benjamin reported $31,500 in contributions, mostly from herself and her husband, attorney Joseph Allison. She had a cash balance of $8,329 and outstanding loans or campaign debts of $13,435, for a deficit of $7,100, according to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office.
As of Oct. 27, Buckley reported much less in contributions — $6,763, a cash balance of $1,650 and outstanding loans or bills of $15,000 for a deficit of $13,359, according to the Secretary of State.
Buckley received her law degree from Lewis and Clark College in Portland in 1991, worked in the early 1990s in the Lincoln County District Attorney’s office, spent 12 years practicing on her own, then returned for a 4-year stint in the DA’s office before leaving in 2013 to again go into private practice, specializing in domestic relations. She has a long history of involvement in Newport-area civic organizations, is president of the Lincoln County Bar Association, and is on the disciplinary committee of the Oregon State Bar.
Buckley released a statement Wednesday afternoon said it would be an honor to “continue to serve as your Circuit Court Judge.”
“Over the course of this judicial race, I have been moved by the outpouring of kindness from people all over this community,” her statement said. “I want to thank my support network, those that campaigned tirelessly on my behalf, and the voters. I also want to thank my family: My parents who always told me I could do anything I set my mind to; my sister, Sharon, who gave me encouragement by telling me to keep going; my husband, Mike, who lovingly encouraged me to take this leap of faith; and my children, Pat, Kasie and Sharon. I especially want to thank my technologically savvy daughter, Sharon, for helping her mother with her campaign website, pounding countless lawn signs, and being an incredible source of support for me. I ran this campaign in a way that I hoped would make Sharon proud of her mother. Just as my parents told me I could do anything I set my mind to, I want Sharon to know the same is true for her. Thank you voters of Lincoln County for your confidence in me.”
Buckley’s six-year term begins in January.