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Wright joins race for board Cleveland Wright is throwing his hat in the ring again -- only this time he's wearing a different one. The Talent man announced Thursday that he will run for Jackson County commissioner, but he's running as a Republican, not as a Democrat. Wright said he switched parties in January and has always been more conservative than liberal. "I have been very disappointed with what has been taking place in the Democratic Party for the past seven years since the Clinton administration has gotten involved," Wright said. He is running for Jackson County Position 2, the seat now held by Commissioner Sue Kupillas. The primary is in May. Kupillas, who is serving her third term, could not be reached about her re-election plans. Wright ran on the Democratic ticket against Commissioner Ric Holt in November 1998. Holt beat Wright 33,445 votes to 22,004, 60.3 percent to 39.6 percent. Wright is a former law enforcement officer and owner of Cleveland Investigation Co. in Talent. He said he is running because he thinks it's time for different commissioners. All three seats are held by veterans. "I think that this is a time for a change and we need to look forward rather than staying with the status quo," Wright said. The issues he intends to address in his campaign include the criminal justice system, which he said doesn't have enough people to do the job. He also said he would like to work with state lawmakers to regionalize land-use laws. "I don't think the state people up in Salem need to be telling the people in Southern Oregon what to do with their lands," Wright said. As a commissioner, he said, he would try to make Jackson County employees more "public friendly." Wright said most of his campaign contributors in the last election were Republicans. He hopes he doesn't alienate any of his Democratic Party supporters by switching sides. "Until I entered politics, it didn't really matter what party I belonged to," Wright said. "I voted for the person, not the party." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA