Election will be certified in the weeks ahead; budget deadline looms
Gilliam County voters have voted to recall Judge Elizabeth Farrar Campbell and Commissioner Pat Shannon from office
Judge Elizabeth Farrar Campbell was elected Gilliam County Judge in the 2018 election. She was the youngest judge to have ever served Gilliam County. She will be removed from office when the recall election results are certified.
Commissioner Pat Shannon at his swearing-in ceremony in 2021. Despite being recalled, Shannon is running for re-election.
Although the results are still unofficial, Gilliam County voters have resoundingly voted to recall Judge Elizabeth Farrar Campbell and Commissioner Pat Shannon from office.
The special election was held on April 30 and will take several weeks to finalize.
Gilliam County Clerk Ellen Wagenaar is working to verify contested ballots and those that were unsigned. Wagenaar says that it will likely take until May 21 to finalize this process, and to certify the election by May 22 with the Oregon Secretary of State's Office.
A recall campaign was started against Judge Farrar Campbell and Commissioner Pat Shannon after the Gilliam County Court removed judicial functions from the County Judge position - transferring juvenile and probate court to the Gilliam County Circuit Court.
The County Judge position has historic roots in the county, though it is largely ceremonial. A small number of juvenile cases and estate cases are heard each year, with the option of transferring both to the circuit court.
But by removing the jurisdiction of juvenile and probate cases, the court opened up options for creating a new system of government.
Gilliam County is one of five counties in Oregon that has a county judge, which serves as the county's executive officer and does not require a law degree.
Judge Farrar Campbell, Commissioner Pat Shannon, and Commissioner Leah Watkins also explored changing the court's structure to a board of commissioners. Members of the County Court said they felt hamstrung and unable to make timely decisions due to quorum rules for meetings. Opponents say that the court was seeking to create significant changes in an election year.
The backlash against these decisions grew over the winter and culminated in the recall election, held on April 30, 2024.
The special recall election tipped overwhelmingly for the recall, with 60.3% voting to recall Judge Farrar Campbell and 59% to recall Commissioner Pat Shannon.
Turnout for the recall election was just above 52% of registered voters. While the vote count is still being finalized, the data shows that a significant percentage wanted to remove Judge Farrar Campbell and Commissioner Shannon from office.
Farrar Campbell and Shannon suffered losses in all three precincts. 71.1% of voters approved of recalling Judge Farrar Campbell in Arlington/Olex Precinct 1 (205-83), while 64.6% said "yes" to recalling Commissioner Shannon (188-103).
In East Condon's Precinct 6, Judge Farrar Campbell broke even at 106-106 - the only close precinct in the special election. Commissioner Shannon also had better traction, but voters approved the recall 111-102 (52.1%).
Judge Farrar Campbell didn't get help from her home district of Precinct 7 in West Condon - with 56.6% voting to recall her (145-111). West Condon's precinct voters also voted to recall Commissioner Shannon 150-107 (58.3%).
Even though the election hasn't been certified, the numbers look overwhelmingly in favor of recalling both officials.
The turnout for the special election was 54.2% - which is lower than the typical turnout during general elections.
Arlington/Olex had a turnout of 46.5%, East Condon had 62.8% turnout, and West Condon had 58.6% of registered voters casting a ballot.
Currently, Gilliam Co. Clerk Ellen Wagenaar is reaching out to voters who cast a ballot but did not include a signature – or who otherwise cast a vote that could not be verified. She is also reviewing contested ballots to verify the vote tally.
This process is expected to take several weeks to finalize. Wagenaar says that it will likely go to the deadline of May 21 to finalize the results - before the election is certified by the Oregon Secretary of State, by May 22.
Governor Tina Kotek's office will work to select an interim County Judge and County Commissioner #2 in the weeks that follow.
Gilliam County is in the midst of creating its 2024-2025 budget, which is due by July 1. The court will need to have interim members in place to pass the budget. Failure to do so could result in a loss of services and the furloughing of county employees.
Commissioner Leah Shannon met with county employees last week, but had few answers to questions about employee pay, benefits and county services.
A special meeting of the Gilliam County Court was called for May 8, and Pat Shannon agreed to join the meeting to help pay bills and do essential county business. As the results of the election have not been finalized, Shannon is eligible to participate in court meetings.
Despite being recalled, Pat Shannon is running for re-election for County Commissioner #2. The midterm elections will be held on May 21 and ballots have already been mailed out.
The Times-Journal will be providing ongoing updates online at timesjournal1886.com.
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