Philomath’s version of Election Night featured no drama with Christopher McMorran running unopposed for mayor. Incumbent Chas Jones appeared on the ballot but he withdrew from the race too late to remove his name from consideration.
Three city council seats were also filled with three candidates running unopposed — Diane Crocker, Spencer Irwin and Brent Kaseman.
McMorran found himself in an interesting place Tuesday night as the Benton County Elections Office published the first batch of results. The moment, which he called very meaningful, had arrived — and it put him in a place of contemplation.
“I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting today on growing up here and the lessons that I’ve learned here and the opportunities that this town has given me,” McMorran, who graduated with Philomath High’s Class of 2017, said after seeing the early results. “I think it’s a bit of a full-circle moment. If you told little kid Christopher this would happen, I think it would be hard to get him to calm down.”
Now, he sees a responsibility to pay those experiences forward in a manner that can impact today’s Philomath youth through his own leadership.
“When I was a student, the idea of being on the School Board was really appealing to me because that was my life,” he said. “But I think as I went down that path seeing the different realms that these officials play in, I think I saw that I could have the widest amount of ability to really impact the community in a positive way through the city.”
The early results showed 1,805 votes for McMorran and 514 votes for Jones, a 77% to 22% margin with the other 1% going to write-in candidates. Among the councilors, Crocker attracted the most votes with 1,789 with Irwin collecting 1,560 and Kaseman earning 1,513. Another 112 ballots included write-ins.
In other results, Nancy Wyse held a solid lead over R Keith Lembke and James Dashiell for one of the Benton County Board of Commissioners’ seats up for grabs. Gabe Shepherd ran unopposed for the other spot.
At the state level, Republican Dick Anderson held a 52-48 advantage over Democrat Jo Beaudreau for the State Senate’s 5th District seat. Democrat David Gomberg ran unopposed for the State House of Representatives’ 10th District.
In Philomath, the mayor’s seat — as well as the three councilor positions — carry four-year terms. They will be sworn into office in January.
“My favorite irony with elections is that if you work really hard and win an election, your reward is getting to continue to work really hard while you’re in office,” McMorran said with a laugh. “I think that the main thing that I’m feeling right now is just shifting gears from the ‘what if’ to the ‘what now’ and getting to actually think about governance and what to do come January when I take office.”
Jones, who endorsed McMorran when he decided to drop out of the race, has been involved with city government for the past six years — two as a councilor and the past four as mayor. Two new faces will sit on the council come January in Irwin and Kaseman. Ruth Causey opted to not file for re-election after the past six years as a city councilor. Current council members returning include Jessica Andrade, Matt Lehman and Teresa Nielson.
As an unpaid position, small-town mayors obviously need to continue moving forward in their professional careers. In McMorran’s case, he’s been picking up a lot of political experience at the state level as a legislative staffer. However, he doesn’t shy away from the balancing act that most mayors in smaller communities need to pull off.
“It’s certainly a lot to take on but I think one of the reasons I wanted to run for mayor in the first place was that I love doing this stuff and I’ve been doing it for a long time,” he said. “I love getting out in the community and talking to people and going to events and having coffee with folks. So I don’t see moving from the City Council position to the mayor’s office as being a huge leap in terms of commitment. I just see it as being a change in the tools in the toolbox more than a change in how often I want to be present and active.”
McMorran grew up in Philomath and came up entirely through the local school system. He was excited to be appointed to the Philomath School Board during the summer of 2022 to finish out the final year of an unfinished term. Other local government contributions have included service on various school district, city, fire district and county committees and he’s been involved with the advisory board for the library system.
McMorran spent Election Night with his family in Philomath.
“I think that has been meaningful reflecting on growing up here and now I’m literally in my parents’ house when I get to see that news come in,” he said about the early returns that were posted online just after 8 p.m. “It’s been poignant, you know, the idea of running and the campaign and logistics have taken up a lot of my headspace. But I think now it’s finally more real and I’m kind of seeing everything that’s led up to this — not just the campaign but my life in Philomath.”
Then he added, “It’s been a lot to reflect on. And I’m incredibly grateful.”
