Kashinsky and incumbents lead in races for Eugene City Council seats

Eliza Kashinsky and the incumbents running to keep seats on the Eugene City Council had large leads in the first round of election returns on Tuesday.

The late-night update released on Tuesday showed Kashinsky up big in the race for Ward 1, with 66.8% of the vote to Ted Coopman’s 22.4% and Ethan Clevenger’s 10.8%.

In the race for Ward 2, Matt Keating was up with 72% of the vote to 28% for Lisa Warnes. And in the race for Ward 7, Lyndsie Leech had 66.6% to 33.4% for Barbie Walker.

Kashinsky claimed victory Tuesday night. "I am so honored and so humbled by all the support that I received," she said at the Democratic Party of Lane County watch party. "We need more to address our housing shortage. We need more to address our climate and reduce our impact on the climate. We need to do more on homelessness to really make impacts there."

Keating also claimed victory Tuesday night and congratulated Kashinsky, Leech and mayoral front-runner Kaarin Knudson. "I cannot wait to get to work with mayor-elect Kaarin Knudson," he said.

Warnes conceded but said she would now get more involved with city council meetings.

“I ran with the knowledge that it was a longshot to win,” she told the Register-Guard. “I ran anyway because I want to put the city and the council on notice that the people in my age generation are still here and we’re not happy,” particularly with what she called a “stack and pack” approach to development.

“This is my next phase to my campaign: to organize our citizens and in some way shape or form bring back citizen involvement," she said.

The second round of returns counted 75,784 ballots county-wide, for about a 27% turnout. The last Lane County May election in a presidential year had about 47% turnout. More votes were still left to be counted, although there was unlikely to be enough to change any of the outcomes.

Ward 1

Clevenger, Coopman and Kashinsky are the three candidates vying to represent Jefferson Westside, Friendly, Far West and part of downtown Eugene, in the incumbent-free race for Ward 1 on the Eugene City Council.

There is no incumbent for the position because City Councilor Emily Semple decided to retire.

Coopman, Chair of the Jefferson Westside neighborhood association, has the campaign theme "leadership for a change." He said as neighborhood leader his accomplishments include helping to develop Ollie Court affordable housing and preserve Monroe Park and that he'll fight "for neighbors, neighborhoods, and local businesses."

Clevenger, President of Downtown Eugene Merchants, has the campaign theme "Decisive leadership. Pragmatic progressivism." He said when he previously lived in Bethel he helped revive their neighborhood association, and as councilor, he wants to help the council "stay focused." "We can’t get bogged down with niche interests or minutia."

Eliza Kashinsky, a member of the Eugene budget committee, has emphasized prior work with city leadership. "I have the experience to hit the ground running on City Council" she said. Kashinsky said in her advocacy and advisory roles she's helped the city become more walkable and bike-able and increased housing diversity.

Ward 2

Keating, current city councilor and chief of staff for state Senator James Manning Jr., and Warnes, a residential construction contractor, are competing to represent Ward 2 on Eugene City Council.

Keating's re-election campaign for south Eugene city councilor received the highest campaign contributions of the eight city council campaigns this cycle.

Keating described himself as "progressive and pragmatic," in his first councilor term, and that he's willing to compromise such as by supporting the city's camping restrictions while simultaneously working to stabilize funding for Community Supported Shelters. He also promoted his ties to state officials as a tool that could benefit Eugene.

Warnes has served as on the Eugene Planning Commission and as Vice-Chair of the Southeast Eugene neighborhood association and has promoted herself as someone who will be more attentive locally. She's also objected to the city's measures to increase development like middle housing and tax incentives.

Ward 7

Previous City Councilor Claire Syrett's recall has opened up a series of contests for this ward's councilor.

Leech, a nonprofit director, and Walker, a restaurant owner, were competing for the seat.

Councilors appointed Leech at the end of 2022 and in 2023 she won the special election to hold the seat another year. Leech said on council she's been a "voice for the vulnerable" highlighting her opposition to the city's ordinances regulating street camping and car camping, and advocacy for a "more compassionate response."

Walker also applied to replace Syrett, and ran against Leech in 2023's special election. Walker's told voters she'll "bring your voice back to The City Council." Objecting to Leech's support for the proposed gas ban and subsidy for the 1059 Willamette housing project and has pledged a "tough love" approach to homelessness.

Ward 8

In Ward 8, incumbent city councilor Randy Groves is running for re-election uncontested.

Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached over email at atorres@registerguard.com or on X @alanfryetorres.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Kashinsky, incumbents lead in Eugene City Council primaries