MHCC’s 3 candidates sweep the state primary, proceed to ballot

A former Mt. Hood Community College student, a current MHCC instructor and a current district board member have all but won their bids to represent their political parties for state representative positions in the fall general election.

According to oregonvotes.org, as of 11:35 a.m. May 17, the unofficial results were as follows:

• Chris Gorsek, who was running as the democratic candidate for State Representative for the 49th district — and is a criminal justice and geography instructor at MHCC — had received 2,326 votes.

•Matt Wand, a former MHCC student who is running as the Republican candidate for the 49th district, received 1,806 votes.

•MHCC District board member Maggie Nelson received 1,518 votes as a Republican candidate for the 47th district.

All three candidates ran unopposed and have to date received more than 95 percent of the votes for their associated parties. Official results for the primaries will be released June 14.

Asked what his thoughts were on the results of the voting thus far, Wand said, “I don’t give much thought to the primary results. I won with the coalition of members of our community. I don’t really pay close attention to it.”

Wand and Gorsek, both running for the 49th district position, will be going head to head this fall.

Wand, when asked what he feels distinguishes himself from Gorsek, said, “Well I have a pretty strong record of focusing exclusively on East County. I’ve stood independently to protect our residents from foreclosures; I’ve actually created jobs in East County, both as an attorney but also as a public official as a member of city council. My focus has been building a stronger East County through creating more jobs. I can’t speak on behalf of my opponent’s priorities but that’s where he’s going to have to sell himself to the voters.”

Gorsek was unable to respond to email questions by press time Thursday.

In contrast, candidate Nelson, who will be running against Democratic candidate Jessica Pederson, found the results of the primaries a good foundation to build on come this fall.

“The election results have provided a solid base of support on which to go forward. For me, the race has just begun,” she said.

In regards to what her thoughts were on her opponent and what distinguishes her as a candidate, Nelson said, “I respect my opponent and I expect a challenge. However, I feel confident that the voters will support me when they become familiar with my values and vision for House District 47.
“State legislators face issues that are broad and wide and effect all citizens in the state. Having spent my childhood in rural Eastern Oregon and my adult years in Portland’s urban House District #47, I have a unique perspective to offer the voters that most candidates don’t have,” said Nelson.

“My number one priority is to promote a healthy business climate that creates living-wage jobs,” she said.

Oregon’s vote-by-mail general election, which will include the state representative positions Nelson, Wand and Gorsek are seeking, will conclude Nov. 6.

Advocate Staff