Document text
Graham, Hansen, Kaplan lead in Ashland council races By Morgan Rothborne Updated: Nov 08, 2022 11:21 PM A A 4 View all photos Flags fly above Ashland city offices. [Mail Tribune/file photo] Tonya Graham, Eric Hansen and Bob Kaplan were leading in their respective Ashland City Council races in unofficial election results released late Tuesday night. Graham had 63.67% of the vote, or 6,396 votes out of 10,046 votes counted by 11 p.m., running on a campaign of a continuation and an improvement of Ashland City Council’s work over the past year. “I am so pleased the people of Ashland have given me this chance to continue to serve. We have an incredible future ahead of us, and its going to take a whole lot of work but I look forward to doing that work with the rest of council and the people of Ashland,” Graham said. Her opponent, Ashland Housing and Human Services Commissioner Joy Fate, campaigned on affordability and renewed accountability in Ashland’s city budget. Fate was not immediately available for comment. Kaplan won 61.15% of the 9,931 votes counted in his race against Jill Franko, Ashland School Board president. “I ended up knocking on over 3,300 doors,” Kaplan said. “I had a lot of great doorstep conversations about what people want and need from their city. It feels really good to be totally connected to the voters of Ashland.” Kaplan offered Ashland a global perspective, based on his career working in Latin America, while Franko campaigned on a lifetime of living in the Rogue Valley and a depth of local knowledge and the perspective of a parent of young children. Franko was not immediately available for comment. With 9,664 votes counted, Hansen had 60.55% of the vote, handing him an apparent victory over opponent Jim Falkenstein. Hansen told Ashland voters three decades of residence and 12 years running a small business in the city gave him the right perspective to do what’s best for Ashland. “I’m really grateful the vote up and down the Ashland ballot is turning out the way I’d hoped,” Hansen said. “We’re over at the brick room celebrating.” Hansen said he wanted to thank his supporters, and he’s looking forward to getting to work on council. Falkenstein offered a unique approach to politics. With brash honesty and humor, he knocked on doors and told voters his years of making joke videos condensing Ashland City Council meetings could be handily turned to insider knowledge of Ashland politics. “I’m not going to lie, I was pretty surprised. But hey, it’s the will of the people, the democratic process.” Falkenstein said. “I hope everything moves along in Ashland in a rosy fashion.” He stressed gratitude for his wife, who stood by him throughout his campaign and did not divorce him, he said. Tuesday night’s results are preliminary. A complete count and certified election results are likely weeks away due to Oregon’s acceptance of ballots mailed up to seven days after polls close, provided they have a postmark of Nov. 8 or earlier. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected] or 541-776-4487. Follow her on Twitter @MRothborne. Tonya Graham Eric Hansen Robert Kaplan