Coote

LA GRANDE — An Island City man in the running for Position 3 on the Union County Board of Commissioners.

John Coote entered the race Tuesday, March 12, boosting the number in the race to nine. Coote is one of six candidates to have entered the race between March 5 and March 12.

Coote has lived in Union County since 1978 and is the owner of Coote Auction Company.

“I am running for the people of Union County,” he said. “I want to make sure they have the best government we can provide.” 

The candidate describes himself as an open conservative who listens to both sides of an issue. He is impressed by the number of people running for the Position 3 seat.

“It is exciting and inspiring that so many people are willing to make the commitment,” he said.

Coote joins La Grande residents Kathleen Cathey, Brent Clapp, Merle Comfort, Robin Church, Caleb Sampson and Jake Seavert, Elgin’s Mark Simmons, and Summerville’s Brian Sather in the race to succeed Donna Beverage, who is completing her second four-year term as commissioner. Beverage will not seek reelection because of a term-limit measure Union County voters approved in 2016. Union County commissioners can serve no more than eight years.

Cathey is U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s field representative in 11 Eastern Oregon counties. Church is a retired Union County clerk, and Clapp is the owner of Eastern Oregon Alive TV and Brent Clapp Productions. Comfort is a member of the La Grande School Board and InterMountain Education Service District Board. Sampson is a member of the Union County Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors. Sather is a physical activity and health professor at Eastern Oregon University. Seavert is a division manager for Oregon Trail Livestock Supply’s location in Island City. Simmons is a former state representative, who served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1997-2002 and was speaker of the House from 2000-2002.

If a candidate receives at least 50% of the vote in the May primary, that individual will be declared the winner. However, if no candidate tops the 50% mark, the top two finishers will face each other in a runoff in the Nov. 5 general election.

The winner of the race for Position 3 will be sworn in as a new member of the Union County Board of Commissioners in early January 2025.