From left, Wallowa County Commissioners John Hillock, Susan Roberts and Todd Nash listen to more than 150 county residents Sept. 1, 2021, protesting state mandates requiring coronavirus vaccines. The grassroots gathering asked the commissioners to support them. The commissioners agreed to do so, but said they were limited in what they could do. Nash on Thursday, March 30, 2023, announced a run for the state Senate seat that Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, is vacating.

BOARDMAN — Two cattle ranchers with county government experience have announced they are seeking the seat of retiring state Sen. Bill Hansell.

Former Morrow County Commissioner Jim Doherty and Wallowa County Commissioner Todd Nash and are the early runners in the Senate District 29 race.

Hansell, a Republican from Athena, has served more than four decades in local and state government positions, with eight terms as a Umatilla County commissioner.

He is in his third term in the Oregon State Senate, representing a large rural district in Eastern Oregon.

“Frankly, I’d love to follow in the footsteps of Sen Hansell,” Doherty said. “I’d like for Sen. Hansell to know there are good folks out here to continue on his legacy.”

“I can’t imagine trying to fill Sen. Hansell’s shoes and I certainly won’t,” Nash said. “He certainly left a legacy there.”

The two men each credited Hansell with good work in the Senate.

“One of the things he did is he tried to be statesman rather than a politician,” Nash said.

Doherty noted Hansell made it a point to invite Western Oregon lawmakers from to the Pendleton Round-Up, in particular Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, a Democrat from northwest Portland. Doherty said if he wins he would continue that tradition as well.

Opening the door to the election

Hansell announced March 3 he would not seek reelection to his District 29 seat. He said he made the announcement early so other potential candidates would have plenty of time to ponder an election run.

Doherty was a Morrow County commissioner from 2016 to late 2022, when he and Melissa Lindsey lost their seats on the county board in a recall election. He pushed in 2022 to bring attention to the crisis of nitrate contamination in well water that many residents in the Boardman area rely on.

He is a longtime cattle rancher in Morrow County and in 2019 was president of the Association of Oregon Counties, a position Hansell also once held. Serving in that role, Doherty said, gave him a broad look at Eastern Oregon and its variety of perspectives.

Nash has been a Wallowa County commissioner since 2017 and is a longtime cattle rancher in the county, having moved there in 1968. He also has worked as a logger and a sawmill worker.

“I’ve kind of had my hands in ranching the whole time,” he said.

He has served as president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association since 2021, has been active with the Association of Oregon Counties as co-chair of the Natural Resource Committee and on the Public Lands Committee at the National Association of Counties. He is the immediate past co-chair of the Wallowa County 4/H FFA Fair livestock sale, where he served for 15 years.

Nash has been active with the Legislature going back to 2010, helping to shape state policies within farming, timber, ranching and natural resource issues. He has also worked with Oregon Department of Agriculture and is a state weed board member.

Challenges abound

Both candidates said they plan to continue Hansell’s role of giving rural Oregonians a voice in the Legislature.

“There are a multitude of issues that need to be addressed and challenges that need to be tackled that will require experienced leadership in natural resources, economic development and community-based issues if we are going to ensure rural Oregonians have the representation they deserve,” Nash said. “I will be that leader and the voice we need.”

Doherty said as a state senator he could put a larger spotlight on the water contamination problem in Morrow and Western Umatilla counties. Part of that work, he said, would be to keep the Environmental Protection Agency from stepping in and taking control.

“I think that’s a little heavy-handed,” he said.

While the nitrate contamination is a focal point, Doherty said there are a number of issues to take on in the district, including water resources, the housing shortage, more people living unhoused, economic development, the conflict between wolves and livestock producers and the continuation of the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision process.

“There’s a lot of challenges out there,” he said.

Next steps

In preparation for filing for the seat in September, Nash has opened a political action committee, developed an exploratory committee and hired an Oregon campaign-management firm.

“It would be an honor to represent the citizens of Senate District 29 in the Legislature,” he said in a press release. “I look forward to meeting with and listening to constituents throughout the district, learning their issues and earning their trust and eventually their vote.”

He said he doesn’t plan on a long political career, but will serve as seems appropriate, which is what he called his time on the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners.

“I didn’t really see myself moving onto the state Legislature, but things change,” he said. “It seemed like the time to do that. … I’m glad to pursue it.”

Doherty said he has been in contact with Moore Information Group, a Portland firm, to perform polling in the district to determine constituent needs. With the primary a little more than a year away, Doherty said as a candidate he has to work now and secure finances for the campaign. He said he is setting up a political action committee and has spoken with the political public relations firm Pac/West Communications.

And while he also will need to advertise to get out his message, Doherty said he is much more comfortable knocking on doors and meeting people face-to-face.

“I’d rather do the personal touch,” he said.

Nash said he hopes to be “able to represent a great district.” Doherty said he wants voters to know “I’m the guy who can get things done.”

Senate District 29 covers all of Umatilla, Morrow, Union, Gilliam and Sherman counties, as well as parts of Wasco County.