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Our View: Kepple, McLane in Districts 28, 55 Thursday Oct 20, 2016 at 2:00 AM Oct 20, 2016 at 8:23 AM Eastern Oregon's sparse population led to some unusual legislative district boundaries, meaning some Jackson County residents are represented by lawmakers living in Powell Butte and Klamath Falls. We recommend voters retain House Minority Leader Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, in District 55 and choose Todd Kepple, a Republican running as a Democrat, in Senate District 28 (more on that later). House District 55 stretches from Prineville in the northeast to the northeastern outskirts of Medford in the southwest. It takes in all of Crook County and Lake County and portions of Deschutes, Klamath and Jackson counties, including Shady Cove, Butte Falls and Eagle Point. Rep. Mike McLane, an attorney, rose rapidly through the ranks since his election in 2011 and is now the top-ranking Republican in the House. He represents his conservative, heavily Republican district well, although he has shown a tendency in recent legislative sessions to complain loudly about Democratic maneuvering he can do little about. His Democratic challenger is Brie Malarkey of Shady Cove, owner of medical marijuana dispensaries in Gold Hill and Ashland. She has no political experience and says she is not accepting political endorsements and is "not a career politician." That's a fine stance as long as you're not trying to defeat one. We recommend District 55 voters re-elect Mike McLane. Senate District 28, which encompasses House District 55 as well as House District 56 in parts of Klamath and Lake counties, has been represented for years by Sen. Doug Whitsett of Klamath Falls. Whitsett and his wife, Gail, who represents House District 56, had filed for re-election last October. But minutes before the filing deadline in March, former Klamath County Commissioner Dennis Linthicum and businessman Warner Reschke filed as Republicans for the Whitsetts' Senate and House seats. No Democrats filed. The next day, the Whitsetts announced they were retiring, effectively bequeathing their seats to the only declared candidates. That cynical move, while not illegal, was hardly in the spirit of representative government. Republicans and Democrats alike were furious. Todd Kepple, a museum director and former journalist, mounted a write-in campaign in the primary to win the Democratic nomination despite being a registered Republican, and has attracted considerable support in his bid to defeat Linthicum in November. Kepple espouses conservative views, but is not as far to the right as Linthicum, who once challenged U.S. Rep. Greg Walden for being too liberal. Voters of both parties should send a message that they value honestly contested elections and send Todd Kepple to Salem.