AFL-CIO’s Shepard exits Metro race

Oregon AFL-CIO Political Director Duke Shepard has withdrawn from the non-partisan race for Metro Council, District 1. Shepard finished second in a four-person primary election May 18.

Shepard raised more money from more donors than any other candidate in the primary, and during the last week of the election more than 100 volunteers knocked on over 4,000 doors. Despite that effort, Shirley Craddick, a Gresham city councilor, collected 47 percent of the vote to Shepard’s 22 percent.

In a blog on his campaign website, Shepard said after examining the election data, “I do not see a realistic or acceptable path to victory.”

Shepard wrote that past history in similar local elections suggests that being competitive in November would require a massive amount of money and a toxic negative campaign.

“ I have no interest in running a desperate and personally negative campaign against a good person on issues that are not at the core of why I ran,” Shepard wrote. “So while there may indeed be a long-shot path to victory in theory, there isn’t one that works for me in reality. This campaign started with integrity, and that is how it will end.”

Craddick will not have an opponent on the November ballot. She will take office in January 2011.

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