Paul Evans Poised To Win Seventh Oregon House Term After Recent Controversy
Democratic Rep. Paul Evans led Republican Andrew Fudge by nearly 3,000 votes in preliminary returns, a month after his arrest on suspicion of DUII.
Monmouth, OR. — Democratic state Rep. Paul Evans appeared headed for a seventh term in the Oregon House after taking a 2,962-vote lead over Republican Andrew Fudge in preliminary returns for House District 20. The election came about a month after Evans was arrested following an alleged hit-and-run in Independence.
Evans, who also received the Working Families Party nomination, had 12,288 votes, or 55.37%, in the unofficial tally. Fudge, who also ran with the Independent Party nomination, received 9,326 votes, or 42.02%. Libertarian Taylor A. Rickey received 533 votes, or 2.40%, and write-ins accounted for 47 of the 22,194 votes tallied.
Independence police arrested Evans on Oct. 4 after officers investigated a report that a driver struck a stop sign and left the scene. Evans pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving and failure to perform the duties of a driver following property damage. His attorney later told the court that Evans would enter a residential treatment program in Arizona for post-traumatic stress disorder. His campaign said he would continue seeking reelection.
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The arrest came amid separate debates over taxes and public services in the district. In its October coverage of Evans’ record on taxes and public safety, Right Now Oregon reported that Evans proposed a $1 million emergency fund for small cities after a funding dispute temporarily closed several parks in Independence. The proposal would let cities with fewer than 20,000 residents apply for grants or low-interest loans of up to $50,000 to keep community facilities open during financial emergencies.
Evans was first elected to the Oregon House in 2014. District 20 includes Monmouth, Independence, West Salem and part of south Salem. The results remain unofficial, with updated returns available through the Oregon Secretary of State’s election results page.
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