Field changes again — but now set — with 12 seeking three Lincoln County commission positions in May primary

• Editor’s note: this story was updated Thursday, March 12 to reflect changes in the field of candidates and clarify election law. The story was updated Saturday, March 14 with delays in commission appointee interviews.

• By QUINTON SMITH/Lincoln Chronicle

After filings and jockeying for Lincoln County commission races on Monday, no more candidates lined up by Tuesday evening’s deadline to seek three positions up for election in the May 19 primary.

But there was a significant development Wednesday when county public works director Mikel Diwan of Depoe Bay withdrew from the race for commission Position 3, leaving appointed incumbent Walter Chuck and former sheriff Curtis Landers vying for the seat. With just two candidates, that means if either one wins a majority of the vote in May he would take office in January, according to state election law.

Otherwise, the lineup stayed the same after Tuesday night, including:

• Casey Miller, a first-term commission incumbent and the center of controversy for 18 months, has five challengers; and
• Four people who sought appointment to fill Claire Hall’s vacant position will square off to fill the two years remaining of her four-year term.

Because of Hall’s death in January, all three commission positions are on the ballot in May and November. Normally there would be  one or two every two years.

As of Friday night 11 people — including Miller in Position 1 and Chuck in Position 3 – had filed. Two more people – Nicholle Moody of Depoe Bay and Marci Baker of Lincoln City – filed Monday for Positions 1 and 2.

No more candidates filed Tuesday, according to the county clerk’s office.

Last Friday, Landers switched from seeking Hall’s unexpired Position 2 seat to run against Chuck and three others for that four-year term. Landers’ move meant that as of Friday night only Cristin Don of Newport was running for Position 2. But seeing that, two candidates who filed to run against Chuck – Joe Steere of Lincoln City and Eddie Townsend of Newport – moved into that race Monday, as did Baker.

There has been confusion over May and November elections at the same time there has been confusion over state laws governing how Miller and Chuck must appoint a replacement for Hall.

Here’s some clarification:

Commission appointment: After a month’s stalemate, Miller and Chuck have finally agreed to interview four applicants for Hall’s seat next week. If they can agree on an appointment, that person would serve until January, when the candidate elected in November is sworn in.

May 19 primary: This is where it gets technical. Here’s what the Secretary of State’s Office has to say about filling Hall’s unexpired Position 2 term, which must be elected in the general election:

“Offices that must be elected at the general election only appear on the primary election ballot if three or more candidates file for the office. If one of the candidates receives a majority of the votes at the primary, that candidate will appear (alone) on the general election ballot. If none of the candidates receives a majority of the votes at the primary, the two candidates with the most votes will appear on the general election ballot. When only one or two candidates file for an office that must be elected at the general election, those candidate(s) will not appear on the primary ballot, but will appear on the general election ballot for that office.”

That meant if just two people filed to fill the Position 2 vacancy in the May 19 primary they would not appear on the ballot until November. If three or more people filed for the Position 2 seat – which happened Monday — then all of them would appear on the May ballot with only the majority winner (50 percent plus 1) or the top two moving to November.

After Tuesday evening’s filing deadline, Miller’s Position 1 seat had six candidates, Hall’s vacant Position 2 had four candidates, and Chuck’s Position 3 had two — Chuck and Landers. That means all the candidates filing for Position 1, 2 and 3 will be on the May primary ballot.

There was confusion initially that a candidate who won the May primary could take office immediately. That turned out not to be the case — but a candidate for Position 1 or Position 3 who wins a majority of the votes is elected in May and would take office in January.

Diwan told the Lincoln Chronicle on Thursday that he dropped out because he believes Landers has a better chance of winning Position 3 outright in May. “A change is certainly needed on our board …” he said.

Lincoln County commissioners Walter Chuck, Casey Miller and county counsel Kristin Yuille, right, debated again last week the process of filling a vacant commission position. (Shayla Escudero/Lincoln Chronicle)

Applicants and candidates

Miller and Chuck still need to interview their four selected applicants to fill Hall’s position until January. Because there are just two commissioners, they have to agree on an appointee and it is unclear if they will be able to do that. It is not clear when the two commissioners will interview their finalists. Originally scheduled to occur the week of March 16, finalists have now been told that commissioners’ meeting conflicts mean the interviews may not occur until April.

Last week Chuck selected Don, a former Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employee, and Matthew Harwell of Newport, a retired Environmental Protection Agency employee and scientist.

Miller selected Baker, a Lincoln City council member and restaurateur and Chris Chandler of Newport, a former Economic Development Association of Lincoln County executive director and current member of the Oregon Coast Community College board.

After the filing deadline Tuesday, here are the contests in the May 19 primary election:

• Casey Miller of Newport: A longtime former county public information officer first elected in 2022;
• Cheri Brubaker of Waldport: A former journalist and current field representative for Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore.;
• Dru Earls of Lincoln City: A casino employee;
• Carter McEntee of Newport: A general manager of Mo’s restaurants who ran against Miller in 2022;
• Nicholle Moody of Depoe Bay: A small business owner; and
• Catherine Rigby of Newport: A grant manager for the city of Newport.

Earls, McEntee, Moody and Rigby applied in January to fill Hall’s position. Rigby was a finalist last year for the seat now held by Chuck.

The filings for Position 2:

• Marci Baker, a Lincoln City council member and restaurateur;
• Cristen Don of South Beach: A former Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employee;
• Joe Steere of Lincoln City: A director of Lincoln County Soil and Water Conservation District; and
• Eddie Townsend of Newport: A real estate agent and former Lincoln County School District employee and coach.

Baker, Steere and Townsend also applied to fill Hall’s position; Baker and Don are finalists;

The filings for Position 3:

• Walter Chuck of Newport: A former water plant operator and Port of Newport commissioner appointed in February 2025 to fill the unexpired term of Kaety Jacobson;
• Curtis Landers of Newport: Former Lincoln County sheriff who retired in 2024;

Also, a political action committee has formed to support the campaigns of Chuck, Don and Rigby by organizing joint appearances around the county. The “May and Done” committee was formed by Deborah Kozar Duus and Elissa Wilson, both of Newport who were supporters of Hall and who are active in the Lincoln County Democrats organization.

Because there are so many candidates for the three positions it’s going to be hard for any one candidate to get more than 50 percent of the vote in May. The only candidate to beat those odds recently was the highly popular Jacobson, who knocked off an incumbent in the May 2018 primary and won outright again in the May 2022 primary before quitting office last year.

• Quinton Smith is the editor of Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]