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| 11/9/2006 9:26:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article
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Elane Dickenson/Chieftain
Wallowa County Clerk Dana Roberts pulls ballots from the box for counting Tuesday. She said that the county’s voter turnout was 80.7 percent of local registered voters. Roberts won a four-year term as county clerk in the election. |
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| DEBOIE and WILLIAMS |
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Williams defeats Ousley to be prosecutor
Though the contest was far from settled until late Tuesday night, Wallowa County woke up Wednesday morning to find that Mona K. Williams was Wallowa County's new district attorney, defeating incumbent Dan Ousley at the polls by a 53 to 44 percent margin.
In other county races, Wallowa County Commissioner Dan DeBoie of Joseph handily won a second term, outpolling his challenger, June Colony of Lostine, while incumbent Dana Roberts of Enterprise earned her first elected term as Wallowa County Clerk by beating Noma McDaniel of Lostine at the polls.
Wallowa County's only ballot measure, renewal of the noxious weed levy, passed easily with proportionately the largest victory in the election at the county level. The vote was 2,702 in favor to 1,015 against (70 to 26 percent).
Elected to his first term was Wallowa County Surveyor Richard Shaver, who was appointed to the post earlier this year and was running unopposed.
In all, voter turnout for Wallowa County was 80.6 percent, with 3,883 voters casting their ballots out of 4,812 registered.
Shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday night, the Wallowa County Clerk's Office released the first vote tally showing DeBoie and Roberts far ahead in two county races, with Ousley lagging behind his challenger in a race that was still not decided.
When the smoke settled and the final unofficial votes released shortly before midnight, DeBoie, Roberts and Williams proved to be victors in the election.
The early count, which represented 75 percent of the 3,883 ballots cast by Wallowa County voters, showed Republican DeBoie with about 62 percent of the vote compared to 35 percent for his Democratic challenger June Colony. The final tally was DeBoie with 2,385 votes to Colony's 1,358 (61 to 35 percent).
Roberts, former deputy clerk who was appointed county clerk following the retirement of long-time clerk Charlotte McIver, was running ahead of McDaniel by a 62 to 28 percentage margin. The last count showed Roberts with 2,290 votes and McDaniel with 1,169; the margin was 61 to 30 percent.
"I feel really appreciative of the voters and the confidence they placed in me," said Williams about her election. "I look forward to working with law enforcement and doing what I said I would do, making offenders accountable and making public safety a priority."
DeBoie also expressed his appreciation. "I want to thank the people who elected me. I enjoy the job and look forward to continuing to work for the best interest of Wallowa County. There's a desire for economic improvement, but also a fear of too much growth out there, so somehow we have to balance the two," the commissioner said.
Roberts, who was in charge of her first election Tuesday, said simply, "I just appreciate the people voting for me and hope I do a good job for them."
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