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Election changed our landscape.

Article Excerpt
Byline: LOCAL By Jeff Wright The Register-Guard

2006 YEAR IN REVIEW

Courthouses were built, hospitals were opposed, parkways were killed and dreams of downtown development were dangled.

But in looking back at the past 12 months of local news coverage, Register-Guard reporters and editors decided that the biggest story of 2006 was an election that could have major implications for Lane County in 2007 and beyond.

To a large extent, it's all about dem Dems.

Incumbent Gov. Ted Kulongoski beat back Republican challenger Ron Saxton, and now finds himself working with a burgeoning economy and, in a replay of what happened in the U.S. Congress, a legislative body controlled by Democrats.

The donkeys include state Sen. Vicki Walker, who defeated former Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey in one of the most hotly contested, and expensive, state races in memory. The biggest election upset, however, may have occurred in May when Bill Fleenor defeated incumbent Anna Morrison for the officially nonpartisan seat of West Lane County commissioner.

The biggest money measure was a controversial county income tax proposal that would have financed law enforcement and crime prevention. Voters said no, but by a margin so small that county officials are flirting with submitting a retooled version in 2007.

In Eugene, dreamers of a vibrant downtown had their hopes raised, dashed and raised again as developers Tom Connor...

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