Mayor’s Race Close. Handy and Ortiz Winning

The Eugene mayor’s race is looking razor close, and Rob Handy has a small lead over incumbent County Commissioner Bobby Green.

With a rough estimate of 60 percent of Eugene votes counted at 9 pm, Kitty Piercy trails Jim Torrey by 36 votes. County elections reports Piercy with 47.74 percent of the vote and Torrey with 47.85 percent.

Both candidates need at least 50 percent to avoid a runoff in November. Conservative Nick Urhausen has 2.26 percent. Jim Ray has 1.4 percent.

Handy leads Commissioner Green by about 1.5 percentage points. Handy has 47.38 percent with Green at 45.87 percent. Both need to cross the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff.

Eugene City Councilor Andrea Ortiz is handily beating challenger John Crane. Ortiz has 59 percent to Crane’s 40 percent. Crane has reported a record breaking $25,500 in donations to his campaign, mostly from development interests.

The EWEB board appears about to take a greener, more progressive turn. Three candidates endorsed by Eugene Weeklyâ€”Joann Ernst, Bob Cassidy and Rich Cunninghamâ€”enjoy comfortable leads.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!