Rep. Sherrie Sprenger (R-Scio) handily defeated her primary challengers in Tuesday's election. She will face Democrat and former Lebanon city councilman Dan Thackaberry in the November contest for the House District 17 seat, which includes parts of Linn and Marion counties.

Sprenger collected 48 percent of the vote, trailed by Stayton real estate broker Bruce Cuff at 22 percent. Linn County Commissioner Cliff Wooten, who did not accept campaign contributions and ran a low-key campaign, finished third with 16 percent of the vote. Marc Lucca, a Stayton gas station owner and house legislative aide, finished last with 13 percent of the votes, according to the unofficial figures on the Secretary of State's Election Division website.

In other local races, Lacomb resident Will Tucker cruised to an easy 63 to 37 percent victory over Lebanon challenger Michael Spasaro to win the Republican nomination for the Linn County Commissioner Position 3 seat being vacated by Wooten. Tucker's Democratic opponent will be Gordon Kirbey, Jr., who ran unopposed.

Linn County Commissioner Position 2 incumbent Roger Nyquist ran unopposed for the Republican nomination and now squares off against Democrat Pete Boucot, who also ran unopposed for his party's nomination.

Oregon State Senate 9th District incumbent Fred Girod had no problem defeating challengers Sarah Arcune and Herman Joseph Baurer, collecting 84 percent of the vote. Democrat Bob McDonald defeated Steven H. Frank to challenge Girod in the 9th District.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama crushed opponent Hillary Clinton by 17 percent statewide, but Linn County voters chose Clinton by a 51 to 48 percent margin.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain took 84 percent of Linn County Republican votes, while Ron Paul captured 13 percent, mirroring statewide results.

Forty-eight percent of Linn County Democrats voted, compared to 40 percent of county Republicans who returned ballots. Statewide, 69 percent of Democrats voted, trumping the Republican turnout of 52 percent.

Full Linn County results are available online at http://www.co.linn.or.us/elections/20080520results.htm.