Donald Trump won an election in Oregon after voters in a tiny, rural district wrote him as a candidate.
Trump scored the victory after a roll of the dice broke a tie between Trump and four other candidates for a seat on the board of the Hubbard Rural Fire Protection District in western Oregon.
Trump and the other candidates tied with two write-in votes after the May 16th election.
“The candidate who won the dice roll off was Donald Trump and because he doesn’t live or own property in the district, the next step would be to determine if either of the other two candidates who won the dice roll are interested,” Hubbard Fire Chief Michael Kahrmann said.
According to the the Statesman Journal, Trump’s campaign didn’t respond to an email asking if he was interested in the position.
We think Trump has other plans in mind.
BREAKING: Donald Trump has won an election in Oregon after the voters of Hubbard wrote him in for the Rural Fire Protection District board
Trump is winning even when he's not running pic.twitter.com/mbCDIbqTL5
— George (@BehizyTweets) June 30, 2023
Former President Trump has been declared the winner of a fire district election in Hubbard, Oregon. https://t.co/MhW2cH4770
— KOIN News (@KOINNews) June 29, 2023
Statesman Journal reports:
The fire district covers seven square miles between Woodburn and Aurora and serves about 5,000 residents. According to the district, it has six paid staff members – two of whom are seasonal through a state grant – and 26 volunteers.
Like a lot of off-year elections, participation wasn’t great in this spring’s election, either by voters or prospective candidates.
There were three positions up for election for the five-person board. Incumbents Michelle Luna and Michael Willis were the only people to register to run. They both easily won another four-year term in their positions.
Like most special district positions, they don’t get paid.
“It’s a rare thing for Hubbard to not have someone run in the position,” said Kahrmann, who has been with the district since 2006.
But there are times when it can be difficult to attract any candidates. Just as it can be difficult to attract volunteer firefighters.
Since no one filed to run for the third position, the race came down to write-in candidates.
Of the 20 people who received write-in votes in the race, five received two votes: Jerry Cox, Rocky Sherwood, Paula Smith, Bob Banks and Trump.
Because the vote was so close, it triggered an automatic recount. That confirmed the five-way tie.
The outlet said it’s up to the fire district to determine if Trump is eligible to hold the position.
The candidate must own property or live in the district.
Congratulations to Former President Donald Trump (R) who has just been elected to a seat on the Hubbard Rural Fire Protection District in western Oregon. No word yet if Trump will forgo a run for President to focus on his duties in Hubbard.https://t.co/pF4FrwzR0p
— RRH Elections (@RRHElections) June 28, 2023
Yes, Donald Trump has been elected to the Hubbard Rural Fire Protection district board. He just has to move there to be able to take office. pic.twitter.com/cSN3IHqCLJ
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) June 30, 2023
“I’m not sure how the fire district is going to determine if Donald Trump or a Donald Trump owns property,” Marion County Clerk Bill Burgess said.
“The likelihood is probably not great since we don’t even have a Donald Trump registered in the county.”
Other write-in candidates who were in the roll of the dice tiebreaker will be asked if they’re interested in the position.
If nobody is interested in the position, the fire board will have to appoint someone to fill the vacancy.
The board will decide July 12th what to do with the position.
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