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Golden hangs on to 3-point lead in state Senate race By Damian Mann Updated: Nov 09, 2022 05:23 PM A A Oregon Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, maintained his three-percentage point lead over Republican opponent Randy Sparacino in the latest round of election results released Wednesday evening. Golden, who represents Senate District 3 in southern Jackson County, had 32,249 votes, or 51.67%, to Sparacino’s 30,096, or 48.2%. The Oregonian newspaper in Portland declared Golden the winner Wednesday, but the Ashland Democrat said while he appreciates the declaration, he wants to allow the election process to play out a bit more. “I like where we are and am looking forward to a more final count,” he said. “The vote count is what counts, and I’d like to see tomorrow’s numbers." Golden said he would also like to speak to Sparacino. “I haven’t heard from him,” Golden said. The Mail Tribune has made repeated efforts to reach Sparacino by phone since Tuesday night without success. Sparacino’s campaign website, www.randysparacino.com/ , didn’t appear to be active anymore Wednesday, producing only a “website expired” message. Sparacino is Medford’s mayor and was previously Medford police chief. Golden said he spoke to Jackson County Elections and was told it had received roughly 1,200 ballots that were mailed in that haven’t yet been counted. He said he expects to see those ballots reflected in Thursday’s election results. “The best I can tell, Jackson County ran a good election,” Golden said. After his win in 2018, Golden gave Democrats a supermajority in the Senate, which provides an easier avenue to enact legislation. Even with Golden’s presumptive win, Democrats appear to have lost the supermajority in the Senate because of losses in other races. Senate District 3 includes Medford, Phoenix, Talent and Ashland as well as Jacksonville and the Applegate. Sparacino spent $1.1 million on mailers, videos and other efforts to try and unseat Golden, who spent about five times less than that. In 2018, Golden’s opponent Jessica Gomez raised more than $500,000 in a losing effort. Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at [email protected].