Surprise! Candidate chooses to avoid political low road

Gresham Outlook:

Although we didn’t endorse Duke Shepard in the race for a Metro council position in May, we wish there were more candidates just like him – especially in East Multnomah County.

Shepard, currently a Mt. Hood Community College board member, made it through the May primary as the second-place finisher behind Gresham City Councilor Shirley Craddick. The two candidates were set to compete in a November runoff to determine who would represent East County on the Metro council, but late last week, Shepard abruptly withdrew from the race.

His reason? Shepard realized that the only way he could overcome Craddick’s lead in this race was to raise huge sums of money and then use those funds to demolish the character of his opponent. In other words, he would have to run the same kind of negative campaign that has become all too common in East County in recent years – and for Shepard, that was unacceptable.

It’s heartening to see Shepard – someone who doesn’t shy away from a fight or a challenge – take the high road and reject the notion that winning is more important than integrity. He knows that Craddick is a decent person who has the interests of her community in mind. To knock her down, Shepard would have been forced to fill mailboxes with toxic fliers and the airwaves with negativity.

Such a campaign would have done nothing for East County, but the community now can benefit from Shepard’s continued leadership at Mt. Hood Community College and from Craddick’s unobstructed transition from city councilor to Metro councilor. And we would like to think that Shepard’s conduct in this election bodes well for whatever political ambitions he might pursue in the future.

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