For more of KLCC's coverage of the 2024 elections, visit our Elections page.
Eastern Lane County will have someone new representing it in Salem next year.
The House District 12 incumbent – Charlie Conrad – lost the Republican primary to Darin Harbick in May. Harbick was endorsed by Oregon Right to Life, and was critical of Conrad’s support of laws that protected access to abortion and gender affirming care.
Nobody filed for the Democratic primary but Michelle Emmons won the nomination through a write-in campaign.
The district covers a wide swath of rural Eastern Lane County, including the McKenzie River Corridor. It also includes a small slice of Eugene, Cottage Grove and Coburg.
Emmons is an environment and outdoor advocate from Oakridge. She said her priority is making the district more resilient against natural disasters.
"We need to be focusing on the front end to make more resilient communities,” she said. “That means looking at things from a holistic level, not just fuels reduction, looking at infrastructure, communications and and also access to things like home hardening, and or fire wise work that needs to be done around people's properties."
If she wins, Emmons said she also hopes to work on homeowners insurance issues. She said many who live in fire-prone areas are facing skyrocketing premiums or insurance companies threatening to cancel policies outright.
She said she also hopes to work on issues impacting small businesses—especially small farms—such as water use regulations. This spring, some small farms in rural Lane County were told they had been violating water law for years.
Emmons said the state should take a second look at its water laws and find a compromise between protecting the supply of water and allowing small farmers to provide food for their own communities.
“It could be just a very small exemption, but it's very meaningful for farmers who are producing at a much smaller rate to go to farmers markets,” she said.
Harbick–a McKenzie River business owner–did not respond to requests for comment from KLCC.
In campaign materials, Harbick said he supports school choice and wants to repeal Oregon’s law protecting access to abortion and gender-affirming care.
Harbick previously served on the McKenzie School Board and the Travel Lane County Tourism Board. In 2021, he announced a run for Oregon governor but changed his mind and decided to run for U.S. Senate instead, eventually coming in second in the 2022 Republican primary. He owns a logging company, Harbick’s Country Inn in Blue River and a recovery center.
According to the Oregon voters pamphlet, Harbick is endorsed by two Lane County Commissioners, Ryan Ceniga and David Loveall. He’s also supported by Cottage Grove Mayor Candace Solesbee.
Conrad, whose term runs through next January, endorsed Emmons in a McKenzie River Reflections column last month. She’s also supported by Lane County Commissioner Heather Buch and U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle.
For more coverage of the 2024 election, visit KLCC's Elections page.
