Attorney General candidate visits county fair

Election Day is around the corner, and in an effort to connect with Columbia County voters, Oregon Attorney General candidate Will Lathrop took a trip to the Columbia County Fair & Rodeo.

The July 18 visit was the fifth stop Lathrop has made in the county while on the campaign trail. Lathrop, a Republican, is running against Oregon Representative Dan Rayfield for the role of Oregon Attorney General.

During his visit, Lathrop met with Columbia County Sheriff Brian Pixley. Their meeting included a “friendly, but fierce, showdown” with Bravo from the Columbia County K-9 Unit. Both Pixley and Lathrop took turns wearing the “bite jacket,” and Bravo showed off his biting and take-down skills. The spectacle drew an audience of about 80 people, according to Lathrop’s campaign manager Sam Herscovitz.

Speaking on his time at the fair, Lathrop said he was impressed with the Columbia County Fair and Rodeo.

“There’s a really good turnout; the stockyards were great; they just had a great feel,” Lathrop said.

When asked what sticks out to him about Columbia County compared to other parts of Oregon, Lathrop said that he can see that it is a tight-knit community with engaged voters.

“You have people in Scappoose, St. Helens, and Rainier that really care about their local community, their local schools. There’s a sense of local pride,” Lathrop said. “From a campaign perspective, it seems like an unusually large number of reasonable voters; people who are looking for someone who can lead, rather than voting on a blank party line.”

Lathrop expressed that it’s a great place to campaign because people “listen and they interact.” Pixley is just one of the elected officials in Columbia County who has endorsed Lathrop.

In an email to the Chronicle & Chief about his endorsement of Lathrop, Pixley thanked Lathrop for his time.

“I am thankful Will was willing to come out and be part of our K9 demo here in Columbia County,” Pixley said. “It was great to have Will join us at the Fair this evening to meet local law enforcement leaders in our community and be part of our K-9 demonstration. I trust Will to be an honest leader for our state, and I look forward to working with him.”

Other officials in the county to endorse Lathrop are Columbia County District AttorneyJoshua Pond, State Senator Suzanne Weber, all three Columbia County Commissioners, St. Helens City Council President Jessica Chilton, Scappoose Mayor Joe Backus, and Rainier Mayor Jerry Cole.

Lathrop said that the support of these officials is important to him because they represent “both sides of the aisle.”

“That’s the kind of candidate I want to be. This is a law enforcement position, not a law-creation position. When you work in law enforcement, you’re serving everyone. You’re not a Republican; you’re not a Democrat; you’re the person people call to get help,” Lathrop said. “It means a lot to me that I’m getting bipartisan support and people see that I can be a person that brings protection.”

Lathrop’s biggest priorities if he were to be elected would be to protect children from abuse and exploitation, reduce crime and hold drug traffickers accountable, and combat public corruption.

Coming from a background in public service as a child sex abuse prosecutor, Lathrop said his number one priority is making Oregon “excellent at protecting children.” Lathrop said Oregon is struggling with many of the issues that face children and teens, including teen suicide, teen mental health, and online exploitation of children. These are parts of generational trauma that Oregon kids are being exposed to, according to Lathrop.

In an election where there seems to be disunity between the two largest parties in American politics, Lathrop said that he has observed a strong sense of unity across the state across party lines because “everybody’s a little bit miserable.”

“It’s for the same reasons. It’s crime, addiction, affordable housing, and homelessness,” Lathrop said. “I think this is fixable with new leadership. We’re not going to elect the same leaders and get some different results. This is possible with new leadership, and I want to be a part of that dawn of new leadership that’s focused on solving problems and protecting people.”