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District 49 race: heavy on experience By PETER WONG GRANTS PASS -- The nine-month Republican incumbent representative in District 49 is campaigning on "experience we know," but it's his Democratic challenger who offers 12 years of city government experience in Tuesday's election. The campaign for the legislative seat that covers most of Josephine County has not only Republican Carl Wilson and Democrat Candace Bartow but also independent candidates Jack Alan Brown Jr. of Grants Pass and Thomas Heck of Selma. Wilson, 46-year-old co-owner of the radio station founded by his father 40 years ago, was appointed Feb. 9 to the seat vacated by Republican Bob Repine. Repine, a five-term member ineligible to run again under term limits, became director of the state Department of Housing and Community Development. Wilson, whose son and daughter have worked in the House Majority Office, already had planned to run for the seat. He said there have been no surprises in campaigning, but some in governing. "Rep. Bill Markham (a retiring 28-year veteran from Riddle) was quoted a while back as saying that if you do this job right, it's a full-time job -- and it certainly is," said Wilson, who has been off the radio since the May 19 primary. "People ask me if I'm having fun. I'm not sure `fun' is how you describe it -- challenge is better. "I think what I am most excited about in my service is the ability to help manage government in a time of declining revenues. It will be one of our greatest challenges to engage in good government that does not attempt to live beyond its means." Bartow said she's had experience doing just that in eight years on the City Council and four more years as mayor ending in 1992. She was president of the League of Oregon Cities. Bartow, 47, heads the Community Development Corporation of Josephine County, which works for affordable housing. "I've had an opportunity to do a lot for this community," she said. "I feel I can do it in Salem. I think people want the Legislature to do something to help this state develop in an orderly way." Bartow said state government must support its basic services adequately -- particularly aid to public schools, community colleges and universities, transportation systems, public safety and social services. (For a comparison of Wilson's and Bartow's views on major issues, see page 13A of the Oct. 11 Mail Tribune.) Wilson's midterm appointment by the county commissioners counts as a full term under the term-limits law, so if he is elected in his own right Tuesday, he is eligible for only one more term in the House. "Term limits would seem to give more power to the non-elected officials and the lobbyists," said Wilson, who has been on a couple of legislative committees in the interim between regular sessions. "The limits have already made me a better student of the process." Brown and Heck have made previous bids for public office. Brown, a mechanic who goes by "Auto Doc" on the ballot, can claim to have the most experience in running -- against Repine in the 1992 Republican primary, as the American Party nominee against Repine in 1994, and as the Reform Party nominee against Repine in 1996. Repine won his last race with 81 percent. Republicans hold a registration edge of 13 percentage points over Democrats, 44 to 31 percent. According to campaign finance reports filed with the secretary of state in Salem, Wilson has raised $73,285 and spent $60,046 -- far more than Bartow, Brown and Heck combined. Heck actually raised more than Bartow, $5,666 to $5,272. District 49 has been represented by a Republican since its creation in 1972. The seat was last held by a Democrat in the mid-1930s, when Oregon elected state representatives by counties. "It's daunting that it's been so long, and that many people appear to want to vote along party lines and not for the person," Bartow said. "But I feel the people of Josephine County have changed a lot over the years. There are a lot of new people -- and a lot ready for positive change." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA