Right on schedule, a group representing Lane County wood-products businesses has begun pumping cash into the election campaigns of Lane County Commissioner David Loveall and aspiring commissioner Jacob Pelroy.

The Eugene-based Community Action Network — the single largest donor to Lane County area political candidates — in the last several weeks has funneled $23,500 into Loveall’s campaign to keep his Springfield-area seat on the board, and $31,000 into Pelroy’s campaign to oust incumbent Heather Buch from the East Lane seat.

The Community Action Network still has plenty of cash to dole out: $126,000, filings with the Oregon Elections Division show. The money comes mainly from lumber and gravel-mining business owners. If the political action committee follows its past practice, it will give most of its money to right-leaning Lane County commissioner candidates in the May 19 election.

Meanwhile, Kathleen Jones-McCann, a scion of Lane County’s wood products industry, has emerged as the most generous individual backer of conservative Lane County commissioner candidates. Jones-McCann and her two sisters inherited the Eugene-based Seneca wood-products empire from their late father, Aaron Jones, and later sold it. To date in this election cycle, Jones-McCann, a rural Lane County resident, has donated a total of $121,481 to three Lane County commissioner candidates: Loveall ($34,715); Pelroy ($52,656) and Ryan Ceniga ($36,716), the West Lane incumbent seeking re-election, election records show.

In 2021, Jones-McCann and her two sisters sold the Seneca businesses and timberlands to California-based Sierra Pacific Industries.

The donations by the Community Action Network and Jones-McCann underscore how a handful of big donors are supercharging the campaigns of Loveall, Pelroy and Ceniga.

Buch, and Springfield Mayor Sean Van Gordon — who is challenging Loveall — are attracting considerable campaign cash. But most of it comes in much smaller dollar amounts, from a far larger number of donors.

In this final stretch of the election, expect waves of campaign mailers, lawn signs and other ads.

Here’s where the campaigns stand financially at latest count:

• Buch has raised $219,000 this cycle and has $89,000 on hand. Her biggest recent contributors include the Service Employees International Union ($2,500) and the Lane Professional Firefighters Association labor union ($1,350). Unions are Buch’s biggest backers, providing about 16 percent of her total receipts.

• Pelroy has raised $245,000 this cycle and has $31,000 on hand. His biggest recent donors include the Community Action Network, Jones-McCann, $5,000 from state GOP Sen. Cedric Hayden, and $3,000 from Lantz Electric, a Eugene contractor. Jones-McCann’s contributions make up nearly a quarter of Pelroy’s total receipts.

• VanGordon has raised $95,000 this cycle, with $24,000 on hand. His latest big donors were Eugene-based real estate investor Steven Yett ($2,500), Bend-based homebuilder Hayden Watson, owner of Hayden Homes ($5,000), and rural Lane County environmental activist Tom Bowerman ($2,500). 

• Loveall has raised $121,000 this cycle, and has $44,000 on hand. Recent big donors include Jones-McCann and the Community Action Network. Jones-McCann’s donations are nearly 30 percent of Loveall’s total receipts.

• Ceniga, who faces a challenge from Thomas Hiura, has raised $96,000 to date, with nearly 40 percent coming from Jones-McCann. Other large donors include state GOP Rep. Boomer Wright ($5,000). Ceniga has $38,000 cash on hand.

Hiura has raised just $9,000 for his campaign.

The Community Action Network has become a major force for pumping up conservative Lane County commissioner candidates. The PAC raises money mostly from wood-products companies — Sierra-Pacific, Starfire Lumber, Rosboro, Roseburg Forest Products, Murphy Plywood and Swanson — and from Eugene real estate magnate and lumberman Dan Guistina.

Money for Eugene Council candidates

Meanwhile, the Eugene Chamber of Commerce is lavishing business-sector money on its favorite Eugene City Council candidates. 

Last October, the chamber formed the LIFT Lane political action committee. It has quickly raised a lot of money: $120,000 to date. Big donors to LIFT Lane include Eugene real estate investor Thomas Connor; the Wildish gravel and construction company; the Pape construction equipment company; and Sierra Pacific. 

LIFT Lane has given $15,770 to Councilor Greg Evans’ reelection campaign; $6,500 to Councilor Mike Clark’s campaign; and $6,770 to candidate John Barofsky’s campaign. LIFT has also given $6,480 to Eric Dziura’s campaign for a seat on the Eugene Water & Electric Board.

Full disclosure: This election cycle, Christian Wihtol has contributed $500 to the campaign of Sean VanGordon and $600 to the campaign of Heather Buch.