Clackamas County Chair John Ludlow Unloads On Colleagues: Updated

By NIGEL JAQUISS
Clackamas County Chairman John Ludlow

In the bare-knuckle world of Clackamas County politics, even endorsements are opportunities for attacks.

Over the weekend, Clackamas County Chair John Ludlow circulated his endorsements for two seats on the five-member county board. Ludlow is picking Lake Oswego City Councilor Karen Bowerman over incumbent Commissioner Paul Savas and Steve Bates, chairman of the Boring Community Planning Organization, over incumbent Jim Bernard.

Often, presiding officials stay out of closely contested races because they will have to work with whoever wins—and therefore they don't want to risk the awkwardness of potentially endorsing the losing candidate.

Ludlow clearly does not let such considerations worry him. In the document he circulated, he went right after  Savas and Bernard.

Updated with a response from Commissioner Paul Savas at 1 pm on April 8:

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