Mary may discover that even in Yamhill County, someone as outspoken as herself might not be able to win over voters.

Do county commissioners have much more power over abortion policy than they do over the Irq war? An honest question- I`d just always heard of abortion-related policy being done at State at Federal levels.

I meant "state OR federal levels" rather then "at" in the above.

One thing is for sure, Mary will lose.

Also Kris Bledsoe (ran against Lewis) and Kathy George (incumbent)for the other Commissioner seat.

Mary Stern beat Stan Bunn's brother, Tom. Stan ethics were publicly being questioned - he was being hit hard in the media during his time as the Oregon's Superintendent of Public Instruction - that affected Tom's race against Mary Stern. It was a third brother Jim who was the congressman who had his own public issues. Mary beat Tom for commissioner - anyone capable that didn't have BUNN as a last name could have beat Tom Bunn in that election.

Mary Stern is very good with people and had definitely made a lot of friends. Remember what conservative both Donna Nelson and Gary George were representing parts of the Yamhill County area in Salem so the new Mary may play very well. TV Mary has a real shot - in this economy with Obama's numbering going down, you have to figure her as the favorite going in.

"Given the horrible way that so many conservatives at the County Commission level demonstrate a disdain for agriculture and the environment..."

That's the most hilarious comment I've heard in a long time.

Other than Josephine Co, hard to think of a county where Starett has a better shot. She'll need to hone her property-rights shtick.

I hope you're right about that district.

What Yamhill and Josephine have in common is an acute case of "us vs them" -- that Starrett shares in spades whether the xenophobia is at the People's Republic of Portland, at Californians, or at Gillette for putting spychips in lipstick and Mach3 razors.

"uber" doesn't mean "ultra"; it means "over", as in the preposition, not the adjective, as in ubermensch meaning super-man. I'm aware of the recent trend to regard it as: The ultimate, above all, the best, top, something that nothing is better than. Also Über. "I'm Über confused..." but that still doesn't parse, and besides, it's a really dumb use of a word that doesn't have to be made up anyway. I mean German doesn't even use it for that; they would use "gantz". And Gantzkonservative describes her to a "t".

(and is apparently a 9/11 conspiracist)

If you didn't regard so many subjects as beyond the pale, you wouldn't have people meeting behind closed doors to plot and plan. And blame the idiots that put out a summary of the evidence that doesn't hold water. May be just what we thought, but why throw kerosene on the fire? Labeling that questioning as wingnuttery (not saying you did, but most do) doesn't advance things one iota, unless you count Dems that get their jollies laughing at the retarded part of the dysfunctional governing family.

Glad you mention it, though, because it doesn't fit. She is a human domesticator of the first order. They generally like to ram government findings down your throat and assure you that what you see is what you're getting.

Jeff, the Yamhill County Commissioner races are countywide there are no districts. The positions are non-partisan even through most observers seems to know who is in either party. So party affiliation is not an issue on the ballot and there is no party primary.

Mary Stern has made a lot of friends in both parties and is respected, she comes across very likable yet I think it's fair to say she is a liberal on the issues.

Mary Starrett starts out with deep and positive name recognition. She sat next to Jim Bosley on TV for many years and was "friends" with so many in her now Yamhill County audience which should start her out about even in the more liberal McMinnville. She should take Newberg pretty easily and most likely the current two conservatives lady commissioners will endorse Starrett.

The only way to get to Starrett would be to go "ugly" on her statements endorsing a 9/11 government conspiracy which Mary Stern will not raise but look for it to come up anyhow. Starrett is not easily put in a box she's anti-war which should take some off Stern's edge with some of the left activists but Starrett is very prolife and has a compelling story related to having a child early in life expect that to come out as well to rally her base.

So all in all in '10 it'll be more about who the incumbent is and so I'd be worried if I was Mary Stern. I'd say that Mary Starrett at this point is the odds on favorite when you take into account her high name recognition and the x factor of people feeling they already know her from TV. Another factor in her favor is that she will come out on the side of the local McMinnville newspaper editorial page on issues and may get its endorsement. Plus she will not have the Portland Media asking the hard questions since they ignore these races in Yamhill County. With a Yamhill County non-partisan race featuring no districts, Mary Starrett has probably found about as good a shot at elected county office as she bound to ever find.

Carla, it is my understanding that county comm. are countywide unless there is a law to say otherwise. Marion County activists are trying to get a measure on the ballot to divide into districts and expand from 3-5.

Carla, thank you for commenting on my post. I don't have any polling information on the race it's just based on observation from being a local. From time to time there's been a push for a "home rule charter" which would allow for changes in the makeup of the board of commissioners. It's never caught on - the person who lead the Home Rule effort said it may be "a solution in search of a problem."

In the Nov. 2, 2002 edition of McMinnville's News-Register newspaper current Yamhill County Commissioner Leslie Lewis public endorsed Kathy George in a letter to the editor. George was running for county commissioner and won. She continues to serve in that position with Lewis. You can read it at the link below: http://web.newsregister.com/news/results.cfm?story_no=157419

So with no special polling information to tap I'm just making some guesses in this upcoming commissioner race. One can never tell, but Mary Starrett seems to be a pretty good fit for a Yamhill County race.

I think we underestimate Mary Sterrett at our own peril. Yes, she's a Barbie doll in the mold of Sarah Palin, however, she is well financed by the tea-baggers.

My hope is that even the two ideaogically hide-bound Republican Yamhill County Commissioners, Leslie "More-Roads-And-Pollution-I-French-Kiss-Gravel-Companies-and-Hate-Good-Farmland" Lewis and Crater Kathy "Let-Them-Eat-Sludge-I-French-Kiss-the-Developer-Mafia" George, Queen of Potholes and Dumps, will see what a whack-biscuit Sterrett is. Maybe they will at least not endorse her, and not work against Mary Stern.

Stern is going to have to run a tight and aggressive race, but, she is the incumbent, well-financed, and well thought of on both sides of the aisle. So, even if it's a bit of push, I think she can win again.

But don't underestimate Sterrett. If anything, overestimate her, and prepare the campaign based upon that.

Oh yeah, and be prepared for last-minute attack flyers and mailers. The Rethuglican Conservatard soon-to-be-Tea-Baggers did this to Al Hansen last election cycle. The day before the election, they dropped a mailer saying Al had let criminals out of jail and that he was a pot-head. There was no way to counter that on the day of the election without a massive media campaign, for which there was no money in the budget.

That's how we ended up with Jim "Illegal-20'-Canary-Yellow-Tower-o-Signage-I'm-Dumb-as-a-Post" Weidner in the statehouse.

And we all see how well that's turned out.

The fact of the matter is, Yamhill County is on the cusp of turning Blue, and to win this election cycle - and the next - we need money. We can deliver, but it's going to take money. Plenty of it.

Kathleen Blair McMinnville, OR