Commissioner hopefuls vying for spoiler's votes.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

The big question on the minds of both candidates for East Lane County commissioner in the final weeks before the Nov. 2 general election has got to be this: How will they split the votes cast in the primary for retired dentist Cedric Hayden?

The spoiler in May's six-way race, Hayden pulled in 4,600 votes, 600 behind incumbent Don Hampton and just 200 fewer than second-place finisher Faye Stewart, setting up next month's runoff.

The three other candidates in the primary shared just less than 1,250 votes.

Hampton and Stewart hold different views of Hayden's effect on their current prospects.

Hampton believes Hayden polled well in the primary simply because of name familiarity - besides a career spent looking into the mouths of Lane County voters, Hayden served in the Legislature for 14 years.

With so many names on the ballot, many people "may have picked the one they'd heard most often," Hampton said. "This time around, I think people will be looking for the most qualified candidate, and that should be a very clear choice."

Stewart, on the other hand, thinks he will pull in the former Hayden supporters.

"Before the primary, a close friend said he liked me but would support Cedric (Hayden) because people knew him and he had the best chance to win," Stewart said. "I'm not battling that now. Now that I'm one of two choices, I think people will vote for me."

The campaign so far has not been particularly cordial. As he did during primary season, Stewart sent out a news release last week attacking Hampton for using money from his commissioner's discretionary fund to advertise a town meeting with constituents within a month of the election.

Hampton countered that the expenditure came to about $130 and that it's a time-honored way for commissioners to keep in touch with people in their districts, election or no election.

Stewart also complains that despite the nonpartisan nature of the county commissioner's race - `I have not sought the support of the Republican Party in my campaign,' he said - pro-Hampton lawn signs often appear alongside those of Democratic candidates in other races.

Stewart's organization "would probably object to anything I do," Hampton sniffed. "That's just the way they are."

Hampton says his year of experience as East Lane commissioner, added to his years as city councilor and mayor of Oakridge and a teaching career, give him an advantage voters should appreciate. He won appointment to the board last fall - over 21 other candidates, including Stewart - after then-commissioner Tom Lininger resigned.

"I've learned who does what, how to interact with the board and county staff and who the experts are on the issues," Hampton said. "At the same time, people have learned about me - it's necessary to establish a level of mutual confidence, and I think I've done that."

He credits himself with achieving a more cordial atmosphere among a sometimes snippy set of commissioners.

"The year before I came on the board, it took two weeks just to choose a board chairman; this year, it took two minutes," Hampton said. "I had one-on-one conversations with all the commissioners; I talked about how I felt and asked how they felt - it's what I call a `no surprises' way of operation, and it helps everyone work better together."

The complexion of the Lane County board could take on a different hue, depending on who prevails in the East Lane race. Right now, Peter Sorenson and Bill Dwyer tend toward the liberal side of many decisions, with Bobby Green sometimes and Anna Morrison often taking the most conservative point of view.

Even so, Hampton pooh-poohs the notion that he casts a "swing vote" on the board. "When people talk about taking sides, I tell them that I have voted with and against every other commissioner on the board," he said. "If it were strictly partisan, many of our votes would be 3-2, and I'd say more of them are 5-0 or 4-1. I make my decisions issue-by-issue."

That could change with a Stewart victory. Campaigning in the spring primary, Stewart cast himself as a likely ally of Anna Morrison and Bobby Green on most issues.

Last week, however, he said he'd come to realize that "as a commissioner, you have to stay nonpartisan, and you have to represent all the people."

"It's not necessarily what Faye Stewart the person believes in, it's what's best for the people of the district," Stewart said. "That's been one of my learning experiences."

Both candidates name support for public safety as their No. 1 campaign issue, but they disagree about what that means.

Stewart passes out a list of endorsements that includes the elected and acting district attorneys, the departing and incoming county sheriffs and the police chief from his hometown of Cottage Grove.

"I have a firm commitment to public safety," he said. "Don Hampton started out (in this year's budget-cutting) with 9 percent across-the-board cuts. We can't make any more cuts to public safety. We have to fund what we can fund and then say `no' to the rest. It's not an easy decision - I know that."

It's no wonder Stewart gets the nod from elected public safety officials such as district attorneys and sheriffs, Hampton counters. "I understand that as elected officials they want to advocate for their own departments - I think they'd like to get full funding and cut the rest. But we have 13 other county departments we also have to consider," he said.

Name: Don Hampton

Age: 60

Family: Wife, Judy;

grown son

Education: Master's in education, University of Nebraska

Civic/political experience: 10 years, Oakridge City Council; five years, Oakridge mayor; one year, Lane County Board of Commissioners

Work: Incumbent Lane County commissioner; retired educator

Contact: 682-4203

Name: Faye Stewart

Age: 37

Family: Wife, Tami; three children, ages 7, 4 and 1

Education: Cottage Grove High School; attended Lane Community College and Oregon State University 

Civic/political experience: Cottage Grove Planning Commission; South Lane School District budget committee

Work: Self-employed, excavation and logging

Contact: 942-0870