Judge Rules Against Starr; Labor Race in November

Kate Brown
By NIGEL JAQUISS

A judge in Marion County Court today ruled against State Sen. Bruce Starr (R-Hillsboro). Starr sued to block Secretary of State Kate Brown from placing the election for labor commissioner on the November general election ballot rather than on the May primary ballot. Until late last Friday Starr, who is challenging incumbent Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian thought the race was in May, as did Avakian.

Starr sought a temporary injunction which would have delayed the printing of May primary ballots. Oregon Department of Justice lawyers representing Brown argued such a delay would be expensive, as ballots are already being printed, and could violate federal requirements for when ballot must be mailed to overseas voters.

Greg Chaimov, a lawyer for Starr, says Starr needed to convince Judge Steven Price that Starr was likely to prevail and that moving the election to November would cause "irrepeparable harm."

Judge Price did not issue a written ruling, Chaimov says, nor did he provide an interpretation of the 2009 statute that the parties disagreed on. 

Brown issued this statement after the judge's decision:

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