BEND, OR -- One candidate for Deschutes County Commissioner announced earlier this week he was dropping out of the race, but Brian Huntamer tells KBND News he’s decided to remain, “At this point, I need to put my best foot forward. I need to be honest. I need to stick to my principles and ideals. And if I wind up winning it, that's fine. I'll be happy to take the position and do my best.”
Huntamer says County Clerk Steve Dennison told him the deadline to withdraw had passed, “Everything went out in the voter's pamphlet. I was put on the ballot. Absentee votes were sent out. Steve also mentioned that a lot of those votes are coming back already. That was the number one consideration. And I want everyone's vote to count and if even only one person voted for me, I wanted that vote to be counted.”
While he did not participate in this week’s City Club of Central Oregon forum, he says he will continue to campaign and will serve if elected, “I think my best position to be is to keep running. And I actually made that decision when the forum was completed.”
If one candidate does not receive over 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff election in November with the top two candidates. Standard ballots will be mailed to voters on May first for the May 21st primary.
