By Jay Shenai
There were parties for both Republican Vic Gilliam and Democrat Rodney Orr in Silverton on election night, with people in both camps crowding around laptop computers and watching large-screen televisions for announcements of early election results.
But ultimately it was the incumbent’s gathering that was celebrating into the night at the Seven Brides’ Taproom as Gilliam defeated his Democratic challenger with 63.3 percent of the vote to retain his seat in the Oregon House of Representatives.
For Gilliam, the joy is short-lived, especially as daunting challenges loom for the state.
“I’m relieved to be done,” Gilliam said.
“But you get over the euphoria and realize what a complicated political situation we’ve got,” he said, with an evenly divided Oregon House of Representatives facing a dire budget forecast.
“The economy didn’t get better because I won a race.”
Gilliam said it was the decision to keep a positive message that may have made the biggest impact on voters’ minds. That and a relentless schedule of door-to-door campaigning, far more than in he had in his previous election, he said.
“When you do that, people start to remember you,” he said. Voters “look for who you are, not how clever a campaigner you are.”
Both candidates ran on a platform of lowering unemployment in the region and stabilizing the state’s budget during the current shortfall. But Gilliam differed from Orr by advocating for fewer restrictions on Oregon’s natural resources and hard-line negotiations with state agencies in an effort to reduce a state budget deficit that some economists estimate could reach more than $1 billion.
In multiple campaign stops around the district, Gilliam also railed against what he called “job-killing” policies such as Measure 67, the recent voter-approved tax increase on state businesses making more than $250,000. As he prepares to represent District 18 once again, he remains steadfast in his opposition to the measure.
“It is the poster child for bad economic policy,” he said.
At the Taproom awaiting results, John Wayland, 39, owner of Nursery Connections in Hubbard and a Gilliam supporter, was optimistic.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said. “I think that Gilliam has an understanding of the importance of agriculture” to the region.
For Orr, the election result was a deflating end to what had been an active effort to connect with the community, drawing on his experience as an area family physician for the past few decades. He admitted that despite the campaign’s efforts to emphasize his local connections, there were political tides beyond the mid-valley that proved too formidable.
“I don’t know for sure,” Orr said, “I think I was caught in the tsunami of anti-Democratic sentiment.”
He expressed a sense of relief that a long-fought campaign had come to an end and that he could return to his practice and, above all else, normality.
“I’m just going to go back to real life,” he said.
For Gilliam, though, a return trip to Salem is in the offing. His most pressing concern will be to find a way to balance the budget without taxes and without debt, he said.
But before that, a week of well-earned “R & R,” and an effort to recognize and thank all the staff and volunteers who helped make his victory possible.
“I don’t want to forget them,” he said.
