This story was originally published on YachatsNews.com and is used with permission.
Twenty-one days after the Nov. 5 general election, Lincoln County commissioner Claire Hall won a sixth term by a razor thin margin.
The final, unofficial results released Tuesday evening showed that Hall won the race over Rick Beasley by 115 votes — 13,142 to 13,027. It was the fifth round of votes released by the county clerk’s office since the night of Nov. 5. Hall received 49.97 percent of the 26,284 votes cast; Beasley had 49.53 percent.
It’s the closest county commission race in decades. The county would be required to conduct a recount if the difference was 52 votes, said clerk Amy Southwell.
Southwell has a Monday deadline to release the final, official vote results, but told YachatsNews on Wednesday the results will not change.
“Nothing’s going to change,” she said. “It’s done.”
Hall expressed relief, but also that there had been some lessons learned in her tightest race in 20 years.
“I’m definitely feeling very, very good about this,” she told YachatsNews on Tuesday night. “It’s essentially over.”
Hall acknowledged that Beasley’s emphasis on law-and-order during his campaign resonated with many voters and that she needs to be more aware of.
“I definitely want to acknowledge that and find ways to address that,” she said. “Maybe there’s more we can do.”
Beasley, a longtime journalist and Depoe Bay city councilor, said all three county commissioners should pay attention to the results.
“Half of the electorate has sent a message – they want something different,” he said. “This race should be a message to them.”
Beasley campaigned against Hall’s record, won the endorsement of Sheriff Curtis Landers and said the county needed a change after her 20 years in office. Hall called her record one of accomplishment on housing, social services, and response to the pandemic and 2020 wildfires.
The two squared off in the general election because Hall did not get more than a 50 percent majority in the May primary when the votes were split between her and four challengers.
On election night Nov. 5, Hall had a 232-vote lead over Beasley. That tightened to just 49 votes Nov. 6 then increased slightly Nov. 8 to 67 votes. On Nov. 12 the results gave her a 99-vote lead.
Between Nov. 12 and Tuesday night’s final, unofficial results, the county clerk had to see if her office could correct 562 ballots with issues. Southwell said Wednesday that more than 200 problem ballots could not be resolved.
A record number of 41,288 ballots were sent to Lincoln County voters for the November general election. In the end, 30,035 were counted for a turnout of 75 percent — well below the usual Lincoln County turnout of 80 percent or more in presidential election years.
For more of KLCC's coverage of the 2024 elections, visit our Elections page.