Some people who have formal dealings with Lane County government donate to the election campaigns of county commissioners. There’s nothing illegal about it. The donations are disclosed in commissioner candidate filings with the Oregon elections division.

Here’s a look at some of these donors.

Ed King: The owner of King Estate Winery in Lorane and a planned gravel mine in Oakridge, King has given to political candidates for years. In the past five years, he’s given $10,000 to Lane County Commissioner David Loveall; $17,000 to Lane County Commissioner Ryan Ceniga; $5,000 to Kyle Blain, who ran unsuccessfully against Lane County Commissioner Heather Buch in 2022; $6,200 to Jake Pelroy, who is running against Buch this year; and $10,600 to Lane County Commissioner Pat Farr. King’s Oakridge mine project is subject to commissioner approval, and Farr, Loveall and Ceniga have voted for it. King also gave $3,600 to Lane County Commissioner Laurie Trieger in 2020, and she subsequently voted against the mine.

Kelly Richardson: The CEO and owner of the Richardson Sports factory in Springfield’s Gateway area, Richardson is suing Lane County government and PeaceHealth to try to block construction of a county/PeaceHealth behavioral health center on county-owned land next to Richardson’s factory. Last year, Loveall championed Richardson’s viewpoint and voted against the health center siting, while the other four commissioners voted for it. Earlier this month, Richardson donated $4,000 to Loveall’s re-election campaign. Richardson also gave Loveall $2,500 in his 2022 campaign.

Dan Giustina: Eugene real estate investor Dan Giustina joined with Richardson last year in suing the county and PeaceHealth to try to halt the Gateway health center project. Giustina owns land and commercial buildings next to and near the planned health center site. Since 2025, he’s donated $15,000 to the conservative Eugene-based Community Action Network political action committee that historically has backed Loveall. Before that, Giustina gave $2,500 to Farr, $1,500 to Ceniga and $1,000 to Loveall.

Steve Miller: Miller is CEO of Bulk Handling Systems, a Eugene recycling equipment maker. In 2024, the Lane County commissioners, in a 3-2 vote, picked Bulk Handling to build a trash-processing facility in Goshen. Commissioner Buch was a “yes” vote. Earlier this year, Miller gave Buch’s re-election campaign $2,000. In 2022, Miller gave $5,000 to Joe Berney’s failed re-election campaign for the Springfield seat on the Lane County board and $2,000 to Dawn Lesley in her unsuccessful bid against Ceniga for the West Lane seat on the board.