OREGON CITY, Ore. — Challenger Craig Roberts and incumbent Tootie Smith look to be headed towards a runoff in November for a Clackamas County commissioner seat.
On Monday morning, the election results page at the Oregon secretary of state website showed Roberts with 48.85% of the vote and Smith with 40.24%.
The Clackamas County chair position is nonpartisan, which means a candidate who receives over 50% of the vote can win the race outright in the May primary election. If neither candidate can claim a majority once all valid ballots are counted, the race goes to a runoff in November.
Smith won the at-large commission chair position in 2020, presiding over the county for four years marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires and a surge in unsheltered homelessness. Roberts was Clackamas County Sheriff from 2005 through the end of 2020, but he left retirement to mount his campaign against Smith.
A third candidate in the race, April Lambert, trails Roberts and Smith with 10.8% of the vote.
Download the KGW News app: Download for iPhone here | Download for Android here
Stream newscasts for free on KGW+ on Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV: How to add app to your device here
See a typo in this article? Email web@kgw.com for corrections.
