LA GRANDE — La Grande attorney Jared Boyd has defeated incumbent 10th Judicial District Circuit Judge Wes Williams, capping an unusually contentious campaign that focused in part on questions about whether the workload in the district was evenly divided between its two judges.

In the Tuesday, May 21, primary election, Boyd ran ahead of Williams for Position 2 in both Union and Wallowa counties, which make up the 10th Judicial District. Totals for both counties showed Boyd with 6,311 votes (59.81%) to Williams’ 4,211 (39.91%) as of 9:45 a.m. on May 22, according to unofficial election results.

“I’m really excited and just going to do everything I can to hit the ground running in January,” Boyd said.

In Union County, Boyd took 61.7% of the vote. In Wallowa County, he had 55% of the vote. In comparison, Williams had 38.2% in Union County and 44.3% in Wallowa County.

Williams said he reached out to his opponent’s office May 22 and offered his congratulations. Williams will carry out the remainder of his term over the next seven months.

“I will continue to work very hard and do the best I can,” he said. “It was truly the greatest honor of my life to serve the people of Union and Wallowa counties as judge.”

Williams shared that he is incredibly grateful to all of his friends and family who supported him throughout his campaign — especially his wife, Jennifer, who he said stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

After his term ends in December, Williams plans to return to private practice and “being the people’s lawyer.”

Boyd described election night as a “surreal moment.” He was attending the RISE Conference — a national drug court conference — in Anaheim, California. His family was also with him, so they all went to Disneyland that night.

“We were watching the finale at the park — the water show — when people started blowing up my phone. So, I saw the initial stuff and I just put my phone away. It’s kind of a crazy moment,” he said.

Over the next few months Boyd will be winding down his private practice. His aim is to slowly phase out and take smaller cases. Boyd believes he’ll be able to close out most of his public defense work by the end of the year. Anything that can’t be wrapped up, he’ll transition to other defense attorneys.

Boyd added that he also wants to meet with court staff to see if there is any training he can do before he is sworn in, so that he can hit the ground running.

In the Position 1 race, incumbent Judge Thomas B. Powers ran unopposed and cruised to reelection. In Union County he took 98.7% of the vote and in Wallowa County he had 98.7% of the vote, for a total of 7,244 votes. The other votes were write-ins.

To some extent, the race between Williams and Boyd centered on whether Williams has been able to carry a fair share of the workload in the 10th District, because district attorneys in Union and Wallowa for years have been disqualifying Williams from hearing criminal cases. The prosecutors say they don’t believe they can get fair trials and hearings under Williams.

With Williams unable to hear criminal cases, Powers or a judge from outside the district must hear those cases, which typically require a number of hearings.

Boyd said that results in a workload disparity between the two judges in the district, and puts undue stress on the judicial system. But Williams said he’s still able to take on a full share of other cases in the district, and that civil cases often require as much preparation and research as criminal cases.