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Candidates stake out differences Secretary of state hopefuls debate in Medford By Dani Dodge A secretary of state debate Thursday brought together candidates from the Pacific Green, Libertarian, Republican and Democratic parties for a forum that highlighted stark differences in philosophy. While a Pacific Green Party candidate decried corporate campaign donations and the Libertarian bemoaned the size of government, Democratic incumbent Bill Bradbury defended his year as secretary of state � citing the last primary as having the highest voter turnout ever in a primary election. But Bradbury�s Republican rival, Lynn Snodgrass, blasted his record � especially the way that he handled legislation taking inactive voters off the rolls and barring them from signing petitions. "I would have gone to county clerks and said �Let�s do this together,� " Snodgrass said. "I would not silence voters as has been done." The four debated at the Reston Hotel in Medford. The candidates included Pacific Green Lloyd Marbet and Libertarian E.J. (Ed) PolleII. About 50 people attended the debate sponsored by the Medford and Ashland branches of both the League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women. The secretary of state is the auditor of public accounts, chief elections officer and manager of the state�s records as well first in line to succeed the governor. And if the governor and Legislature can�t agree on a redistricting plan next year, the secretary of state will have that role also. The race also has attracted a record amount of political contributions. Before all the votes are cast, the race should rack up more than $1 million in contributions. Before being appointed secretary of state in November 1999, Bradbury, of Bandon, served in the Legislature for 14 years, including two as Senate president. Snodgrass is currently the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives. A former teacher and small-business owner from Damascus, Snodgrass has been a state representative since 1995. Pole, who lives in Hillsboro, is an engineer at Intel who once worked on the space program. Other than an unsuccessful bid for city council, this is his first campaign. Marbet, of Boring, is an anti-nuclear activist who is on a crusade to defend Oregonians� rights to file initiative petitions. He also said he�s the best person to redistrict the state. "The reason this is a million-dollar campaign is because the Republicans and Democrats are viewing that as redistricting power," Marbet said. " I think redistricting needs to reach a non-partisan result, and I�m the best person to do that." Pole said if elected, he�d put audits out to private bids so they are done more cheaply and then make their results available on the Internet. He said as secretary of state he would reduce campaign contribution rules, and end "tax-funded primaries." "Let them hold their own primaries at their own expense," Pole said. Snodgrass pledged that as secretary of state she would "squeeze every ounce of waste out of government agencies" and give it to education. She said she is concerned that people use the voters� pamphlet for their entire campaign instead of buying ads. The cost paid for the opinions don�t come close to paying the cost of the voters� pamphlet. "It�s clearly a problem we have to deal with," she said. But Bradbury disagreed. "I personally love the voters� pamphlet," he said. "It�s what I call wonderful subsidized free speech." Bradbury said since he�s been in office, the secretary of state�s office has done more than 100 audits of government agencies and departments and found substantial costs savings including $25 million in jail construction funding. "It�s critical to keep that pace going," he said. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA