Don't be confused by the Mail Tribune headline.

Mail Tribune begins report on judicial campaign with an error in the headline. 

Let me untangle this.

As this blog reported four days ago, Kate Brown appointed Laura Cromwell to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Pat Crain.

From Facebook

The Mail Tribune ran a story yesterday, saying in their headline that the vacancy was created due to the retirement of Judge Ron Grensky. That is an error. 

Let me clarify because this is an important vote, but one where voters have little information, and sometimes, as in this case, what they read is in error. Voters are routinely confused by judicial races and many wonder why we vote at all. Media errors just compound the problem.

Ron Grensky vacancy:  Ron Gresky is leaving office with the end of his term. He announced this well in advance. There was an election in May to see if any of the candidates to fill that vacancy got a majority of the vote. None did, which forces a November runoff between David Orr and Joseph Davis.

From Facebook

David Orr, an Assistant District Attorney, making his third bid for a judgeship, does criminal prosecutions with the Jackson County District Attorney office, and prior to this did the same work in Linn County. Joe Davis, an attorney in civil practice in Medford, is running for the first time. Joe Davis has experience doing criminal and civil litigation, and serves as a pro tem judge doing small claims for the Jackson County Circuit Court. Joe Davis handily won the "bar preference poll," a straw vote among the local members of the bar, people who presumably know the candidates well and are in a good position to evaluate the best qualities for judge. However, winning the "bar poll" is no guarantee the the public will share that evaluation, and in the May primary David Orr handily won a plurality of the popular vote.

So there will be a November election runoff between Orr and Davis--to fill the seat by Ron Grensky.

Meanwhile, Judge Pat Crain is retiring and leaves a vacancy. There is just enough time between her retirement and the November election to schedule a November vote to fill that vacancy. This would leave a vacancy for 4 months. 

From Facebook

Governor Kate Brown considered several attorneys, including people who planned to run in the November election. She selected Laura Cromwell to fill that vacancy. Charles Kochlacs is also a candidate for judge and was also considered by the Governor.

Cromwell will be seated shortly. More typically a judge retires at a time that allows a successor to have more time for an appointed judge to settle into the position. Incumbency is an electoral advantage. It gives time for an appointed judge to demonstrate he or she can do the job well and to secure the endorsement of the local legal community. In this case Cromwell's short tenure implies only a modest boost. 

The practice of judges leaving office so that a successor has the tailwind of a gubernatorial selection and incumbency is controversial--at least among aspirants who were not selected. Orr is such a person, and he has criticized the practice in his prior two campaigns.

The Pat Crain retirement will create an election between Laura Cromwell and Charles Kochlacs.

From Facebook

These elections are non partisan. In recent years some judicial candidates have run partisan "whisper campaigns" communicating their partisan preferences, even going so far as to put up campaign signs up in partisan headquarters. This violates judicial ethics rules.

I urge readers who notice campaign material in partisan contexts or doing whisper campaigns to document it with a photograph and send it to me.