Early start for HD 51 seat

Legislative assistant, NCSD board member file for H.D. 51

The Clackamas Review, Dec 1, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Candidates for the State Legislature still have several months before they file to run in the 2010 Primary Election.

But candidates in Clackamas County’s 51st District aren’t waiting. Freshman Democrat Brent Barton, who currently holds the seat, announced he’s stepping down to run for the 26th District State Senate seat being vacated by 12-year incumbent Rick Metsger.

North Clackamas School District Board President Cheryl Myers, a Democrat, will run against John Swanson, a former legislative assistant for State Sen. Jason Atkinson, R-Central Point, for Barton’s vacated spot. Additional candidates have until March 9, 2010, to file for seats.

Barton just won the seat from Republican Linda Flores, who held it from 2002 to 2008, and the district is closely split between Democrats and Republicans.

The 52nd is one of the largest districts in the metro area by land mass. It includes unincorporated Clackamas, parts of Happy Valley and Gladstone, and stretches all the way out to Estacada. Both candidates live near the population center. Swanson and Myers both live just outside of Happy Valley in unincorporated Clackamas.

Myers is in the middle of a two-year term as board president; she has been on the board since 2005 and has owned a financial services agency for 22 years.

Swanson has been a legislative assistant for Atkinson since 2005.

There aren’t any contested seats in the area in terms of state races yet, but it’s likely the area will garner some national attention for one race, Congressional District 5. Democrat Kurt Schrader is in the midst of his first term, but the massive district is closely divided, and Republicans consider it to be in play. The district stretches from southwest Portland, through Salem and all the way out to the coast, but it’s shaping up to be a Clackamas County contest, as State Rep. Scott Bruun, R-West Linn, has filed to run for the Republicans.

-Anthony Roberts

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