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The voters make their decisions

In the County and City races, three incumbents emerged victorious

Jason Chaney

November 08, 2012

Crook County voters favored every local incumbent during the 2012 general election, re-electing three officials in two contested races.

Republican incumbent Mike McCabe prevailed over Independent Walt Wagner 5,233 to 4,330, giving him 54.44 percent of the Crook County vote.

“I was grateful that people thought I was worthy to go again.” McCabe said. “I appreciate the people having that kind of confidence in me, and we’re going to get back to work right away.”

Republican incumbent Ken Fahlgren, who ran unopposed, was re-elected as well.

Crook County Treasurer Kathy Gray, who ran unopposed, was also re-elected.

In the Prineville City Council race, local voters elected incumbents Gail Merritt and Jason Beebe as well as Jason Carr. Merritt won 2,100 votes (30.13 percent) while Carr received 1,699 (24.38 percent) and Beebe garnered 1,383 (19.85 percent).

Carr said he was thankful that the citizens of Prineville had the confidence in him to elect him to serve as a City Councilor.

“I just want to continue the efforts in creating jobs and opportunities for the citizens of Prineville to get back to work,” he added.

The three candidates defeated William (Brad) Peterson, who received 1,059 votes (15.2 percent) and Richard Johnson who won 654 votes (9.38 percent).

Although Johnson lost, he said he will leave open the possibility of running for another office at some point in the future. He also intends to pursue one of the ideas he trumpeted while running for City Council.

“I’m still going to pursue my idea on getting a larger (horse) race meet for our jockey club,” he said.

Prineville Mayor Betty Roppe also won re-election after running unopposed.

After a promising start, the 80 percent Crook County voter turnout failed to eclipse the 2008 presidential election level of 86 percent. Nevertheless, it did exceed the state turnout of 66.69 percent by a considerable margin.

The Crook County Clerk’s Office will spend the next 10 days collecting remaining ballots and verifying signatures, but County Clerk Dee Berman stressed that neither activity will affect the outcome at this point. They will then certify the election after those 10 days have passed.