2 weeks Ago By MID-VALLE MEDIA
Candidates are vying for two positions on the Benton County Board of Commissioners in the 2024 General Election, but only one race is contested . This is the space you can watch after results start coming in Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Incumbent Commissioner Nancy Wyse, a democrat elected in 2020, faces Pacific Green Party candidate James Dashiell and Republican Keith Lembke for position three on the board. Democrat Gabe Shepherd, a Corvallis city councilor, is expected to fill position two, currently held by retiring Commissioner Xan Augerot. Shepherd overcame fellow Democrat Liz Irish in the primary , garnering more than 60% of votes.
No one filed to oppose Shepherd on the November ballot. Wyse first took a seat on the commission in a contested race, defeating Republican John Sarna two-to-one in November 2020, replacing Commissioner Annabelle Jaramillo who held the job as a Democrat for 20 years. Benton County Commissioner Nancy Wyse speaks at the Corvallis-Benton County Library at a forum presented by the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce in April 2024.
Before that, she served two two-year terms, from 2016, as a Corvallis city councilor. Wyse came from the county’s budget committee and planning commission, first running in 2018 for a seat on the Benton board but lost in the Democratic primary. Dashiell answered a call to duty from former six-term Corvallis city councilor and U.
S. House of Representatives candidate Mike Beilstein, who emailed Green Party members searching for a Benton County candidate to take on issues such as Republic Services’ efforts to expand Coffin Butte Landfill . Benton County Commissioner Green Party candidate James Dashiell.
A political newcomer, Dashiell said he wants to open county government to grassroots solution-finding. Dashiell said he was “concerned” that Benton County elected officials stripped responsibilities from or disbanded appointed bodies advising them about landfilling or trash hauling. Lembke, the Republican, already was set to run against Democrat Wyse after each took their party’s nomination without contest.
Lembke ran in 2022 for state office, losing a bid for the Oregon House to Dan Rayfield. Benton County commission candidate R. Keith Lembke is the only Republican candidate in the race.
In an opinion piece published by Mid-Valley Media, Lembke said the county commission has an excellent opportunity to attract new and expanding industries, creating economic resilience and opportunities, citing advances in safe nuclear reactors and electric air and ground vehicles. “I envision making Benton County energy-independent, a leader in air and ground e-vehicles, and a producer of air/ground robots,” Lembke wrote. This story will be updated.
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