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May 19 , 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels March 4, 2004 GOP shuffling the deck Patridge bows out, Esquivel will run to replace him By Damian Mann For the Tidings After a day of surprising political maneuvers in nearby Medford, the field of candidates for Senate District 3 remains even murkier than before. The one constant, Rep. Alan Bates, D-Ashland, knows he is running, but who he is running against continues to change. In the latest political twist, Medford Rep. Rob Patridge announced Wednesday that he would not seek re-election this November. Immediately following that announcement, interim Sen. Sal Esquivel announced that he would not oppose Bates to defend his newly acquired Senate seat, but would enter the race for Patridge's seat. Senate District 3 encompasses most of southern Jackson County including parts of Medford and Ashland. House District 6 is centered in Medford, and House District 5 covers the rest of Senate District 3. Just last week, Esquivel was appointed by the Jackson County Commissioners to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Ashland's Lenn Hannon. Patridge, a Medford Republican, said he is dropping out because of family and professional reasons, citing the hardships placed on legislators after five special sessions and the longest regular session in history. Esquivel prefers Patridge's House seat to his own Senate seat because of his familiarity with Medford, he said. Senate District 3 has 24,627 Democrats, 26,972 Republicans and 14,691 who aren't affiliated with either party. House District 6 has 9,887 Democrats, 15,063 Republicans and 6,370 non-affiliates, and House District 5 has 14,740 Democrats, 11,909 Republicans and 8,321 unaffiliated. GOP scramble Esquivel's decision Wednesday sent Republican leaders scrambling for a new candidate for the Senate seat. With the deadline for filing looming - March 9 is the last day to file - Republicans believe they have enough time to select a candidate to run against Bates. Bryan Platt, head of the Jackson County Republican Party, said he wasn't surprised that Patridge decided not to run, but was somewhat caught off guard by Esquivel's announcement. Republicans hoped that having an incumbent in a race would help change the balance of a Senate evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Platt will spend the next week approaching three other candidates who had expressed interest in the interim Senate seat. Jim Ray, Jim Wright and Jerry Barnes were the runners-up in a recent vote among precinct leaders in the local Republican Party. Ray, who placed second in his party for the Senate nomination, said he had suspected that Esquivel might make a run for the House position if Patridge dropped out. "I anticipated this would happen," he said. "I knew it was an option that he would have to consider." Although he hasn't fully made up his mind, Ray said, "my gut feeling is to run." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams