Wednesday night update: Wallace wins district attorney race; Hall and Beasley in November runoff; all money measures passing

 

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews

A prosecutor who stepped in to run for district attorney at the last minute won election Tuesday to become Lincoln County’s third district attorney in four years.

Jenna Wallace, 34, of Toledo, won with 55 percent of the vote over longtime Newport defense attorney Kathryn Benfield.

With 95 percent of ballots counted by end of the day Wednesday, Wallace easily led Benfield 7,060 to 5,748 — more than the 50 percent majority she needed to take office next January.

First-term district attorney Lanee Danforth defeated appointee Jonathan Cable in May 2020, took office in 2021 and filed for re-election last September. But she suddenly and without public explanation withdrew from the race in late April. Wallace, who has been a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office since 2022 and chief deputy since August, filed soon afterwards — as did Benfield.

Danforth’s four years in office was marked by office turmoil and turnover, public clashes with county commissioners, and a federal lawsuit by a former deputy district attorney. Both Wallace and Benfield said they would work to change that.

The Lincoln County clerk’s office said Wednesday evening it had counted 95 percent of ballots with the next results not released until 5 p.m. Friday. There have been 15,052 ballots counted — a turnout of nearly 38 percent and much lower than the expected turnout of 50-60 percent.

Results show there will be a two-person runoff in November for county commissioner.

While five-term incumbent county commissioner Claire Hall easily beat four challengers in Tuesday’s primary, she failed to get more than 50 percent of the vote to win a sixth term outright. That means Hall and second-place finisher Rick Beasley, a Depoe Bay city councilor, will face off in November.

Hall had 4,964 votes after Wednesday’s count, or 39 percent of the 12,838 total votes counted in the commission race. Beasley had 2,605, or 20 percent, while Newport city councilor Ryan Parker had 1,916, Tyrone Halbrook of Waldport 1,679 and Don Gomez of Newport finishing last at 1,674.

All the money measures on the ballot in Lincoln County were passing.

Oregon Coast Community College’s request for a $33.16 million bond to build a trades education center on its Newport campus and also upgrade education, health, aquarium sciences and welding programs, update classrooms and technology and make safety improvements was easily approved 9,326 to 5,144 after the second round of ballot-counting Wednesday.

College officials said Tuesday night they were pleased by the strong show of support from voters.

“Since I arrived in Lincoln County, I’ve heard consistently from folks from all walks of life some version of, ‘What this county really needs is more trades education’,” said Birgitte Ryslinge, who is retiring in September after 10 years as OCCC’s president. “Those folks stepped up, and voted to fund this work, and to invest in their county’s growth and development. We are humbled and deeply moved by their support. ”

Voters in the Lincoln County Library District — Waldport, Toledo, Siletz, Newport, Lincoln City and unincorporated areas – were approving the renewal of an operating levy of 9 cents per $1,000 assessed property value to replace a levy of the same amount that expires in 2025. The vote was 5,444 to 2,622.

Other results as of Tuesday night included:

In other issues:

• Voters in the city of Newport were passing 1,655 to 1,427 a measure that will institute a 5 cent per gallon year-round gasoline tax to replace one that varies from one to three cents depending on the season to fund road repairs;
• Voters in the Depoe Bay Rural Fire Protection District approved 1,177 to 481 a five-year levy of $1.39 per $1,000 assessed property value – 30 cents more than the levy expiring in June 2025 — to fund operations and personnel;
• Voters in the Gleneden Beach Sanitary District south of Lincoln City approved 524 to 223 a five-year local option levy of 77 cents per $1,000 assessed property value to renovate and improve its infrastructure;
• Voters in Toledo approved 477 to 249 a $2.65 million bond to replace the 32-year-old city water tank on Ammon Road that would result in a property tax of 35 cents per $1,000 assessed value;
• Two legislative incumbents – Sen. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City and Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis, are unopposed in their party’s primaries. Anderson will face Democrat Jo Beaudreau, a Florence city councilor, in the November general election. No Republican filed to challenge Gomberg in November.